Chaos Theory
by Dan Ingram
Summary: The first Red Lotus attempt on Korra was successful. They have thrown the world into chaos, and the world tries to find it's way while under siege. The world needs the Avatar more than ever, and she's the enemy! Start Act 2. R/R
1. The Beginning

Chaos Theory

Prologue

_Then_

"You make me an airbender, now!"

Tenzin knew better than to pull his head back as the young Avatar grabbed his beard, but it was a near thing.

"Korra!" Senna placed her hand on her daughter's small arm, and gently squeezed, "don't do that, it's not polite!"

Korra released Tenzin's beard, only to cross her arms and pout.

Chief Sokka turned to Lord Zuko, and whispered, "You know, if Aang's in there, he's buried pretty deep."

Zuko's only response was a sad smile.

"I wanna airbend," Korra said miserably, as she sat in her mother's lap, "wanna do it now."

"I'm so sorry," Senna said. She hugged Korra close to her, "Korra only knows that she is the Avatar, not what it entails.

"Think nothing of it," Tenzin smiled.

"Just think of this as what you have to look forward to when you and Lin have kids," Chief Sokka gave his nephew a playful jab in the shoulder.

"Yes, when," Tenzin said under his breath.

"I want to thank you and your husband for meeting with us," Lord Zuko said. They were all gathered in the main conference hall of the Souther Water tribe. Normally, the hall would have been bustling with dozens of councilmen, interns and just people in general, doing the work of government, "I know that parenting alone takes up much of your time, even before they start bending."

But at the moment, it held only a select number of people, Lord Zuko, Chief Sokka, Tenzin, the last airbender, and the Avatar Korra and her parents. Aside from them and a small security detail, they were the building's only occupants.

Or so they thought.

"She was a handful long before she was the Avatar," Senna smiled.

"We asked for this meeting so that we could reassure you about your daughter's future," said Lord Zuko, "being the Avatar comes with responsibilities as you well know, but that's no reason why it should take Korra from her family."

"We're glad to hear that," Tonraq said, "because Avatar or not, Korra is still our daughter."

"And we respect that," said Chief Sokka, "that's why…"

The hair on the back of Sokka's neck stood up. After a lifetime of war and conflict, he'd developed a sixth sense when it came to imminent violence, and now it was ringing. He glanced at Lord Zuko, and saw the man had likewise become tense.

Sokka glanced at Korra, and saw the hyper-active child was leaning against her mother, unconscious.

"Poison!" Sokka snapped, "Tenzin, clear the room!"

"What's happening?!" Senna pulled her daughter closer, seconds before the far wall exploded.

"We only want the Avatar," Senna couldn't make out the figure that stepped into the room. For years, she swore she saw demons. A woman built like a statue, another with a dozen arms and a third that glowed with fire.

Senna turned to run, but she felt a whip of ice wrap around her ankle, and she fell. She twisted as she came down, protecting her daughter as best she could. Before she could stand again, a chunk of ice grazed her skull, and blood trickled down her forehead.

Senna didn't remember much after that. But she remembered when strong, feminine hands gently pried her daughter from her grip.

"Korra, no!" Senna struggled, but thinking was a struggle equal to moving an iceberg, "Don't do this, please! Korra, Korra!"

"…I'm sorry."

oooOOooo

_Ba Sing Se_

"Idiots, they're all idiots," Hou-Ting muttered as she made herself ready for bed. Every day, her subjects found new and interesting ways to fail her, to addle her with their own gross incompetence. There seemed to be no punishment that she could inflict that would stem the tide, nothing that would make those who served grow an actual brain, "why am I the only one in this entire country with an actual brain?"

The Earth queen sighed.

"Do you really think that's the issue facing your kingdom?"

The Queen spun around, and found herself face to face with Zaheer. He stepped out from behind the curtains that decorated her bed, and looked at her with a steady gaze, hands folded behind his back.

"You tax your people, you demand they worship you in their own homes, and you lord over their entire lives with walls most will live their entire lives and never once see over," Zaheer said, "and you think you're the burdened one?"

"How…dare…you…!" Hou-Ting raged, "to speak this way to a queen…!"

"Here I am in your private chambers, with no guards to be seen," Zaheer observed, "and that is your objection? And you think that you're the only one in the earth kingdom with brains?"

"Guar…!"

Zaheer's hand was around her throat in a moment. Hou-Ting struggled, but Zaheer lifted her off her feet as effortlessly as he might lift a tea-pot.

"If it means anything, know that your death will usher in a new age of order, of true balance," Zaheer said, "and it will be the only thing you will ever be celebrated for."

_Six weeks later, Fire Nation _

"Thank you, father, for taking this meeting," Ursa said softly. Father and daughter walked side by side, "I know the responsibility should fall to me, but…"

"The responsibility is mine," Lord Zuko said bitterly, "I was there with the Avatar. It is I who failed."

"You had no way of knowing," Ursa said, "but that's not why I want you in this meeting. When I heard what happened, I couldn't help but think of Iroh. I know it didn't happen to me, and it's selfish to think of my child when another was taken, but…"

"It's not selfish, it's human nature," said Lord Zuko, "I felt the same way, before. Our family knows this pain too well."

"Where…is…he?!"

The voice resonated down the hall, and both leaders of the Fire Nation quickened their pace. The moment they entered the room, they saw the now leader of the Southern Water tribe grab the meeting table, and heave it towards the corner. Chief Sokka and several Fire Lord generals wisely stood back, looking to one another before they even attempted a response.

"Zuko!" Tonraq snapped, "you've taken your damn time!"

"I apologize," Zuko didn't even think to state that he and his daughter were in fact early to the meeting, "but now that we're here, we need to have a discussion like civilized people. Destruction of property will only distract from the matter at hand."

"I've been speaking to your men when I was waiting for you," Tonraq's fists trembled, "and I have learned you have called me here for nothing?!"

Lord Zuko found he couldn't meet the water bender's eyes. All that rage, all that hurt. To the world, the Avatar was missing. But to Tonraq, it wasn't the Avatar who was missing, it was his _daughter_.

"We don't intend to waste your time," said Chief Sokka, "but we thought it was important to update you on our search. As best we can determine, Zaheer and his Red Lotus followers developed an exit strategy before they took your daughter. After killing the Earth Queen, they've become heroes in the earth nation. The White Lotus has been unable to pick up their trail for weeks now."

"Do they even know," Tonraq's tone was that of a soft growl, "if she's even alive? If they've made themselves heroes to the earth nation, then…"

"If that was what they intended, they would have killed Korra, not taken her," Lord Zuko said.

"Do we even know why they took her to begin with?" Tonraq demanded.

Zuko and Sokka glanced at one another.

"They seek to restore balance," Chief Sokka said, "their definition of balance, at any rate. We believe that they intend to use the…your daughter to spread their message."

"And what in the name of the sprits, is their message?"

Lord Zuko sighed, "Nothing less than the destruction of the world as we know it."

End Chapter


	2. Act I Part 1

Chaos Theory

Chapter 1

_On the outer edges of Republic City._

"Calling any available units. We have a reported break in on 5th and Agni Avenue. Are there any units nearby?"

Lin Biefong hesitated longer than she knew she should.

"This is Chief Beifong," she reported, "I'm less than a block away. I'll check it out."

"Chief?" the dispatcher struggled to hold his surprise, "we can send someone else…"

"No need, I have back-up," Lin responded, "what did the call say?"

"They reported a break in at the soap shop. The caller didn't leave his name, but said that there seemed to be at least five men."

"Understood. Give me six minutes, then have two more units meet me there."

"Yes, chief."

Lin put her hand on the shoulder of her passenger, and gently shook her awake.

"Gemma, wake up. We have a call."

The young metal bender, who some said resembled a much younger Lin, with ebony hair down to her shoulders, and a face contoured in what many joked was the 'Beifong fashion', opened her eyes and yawned.

Lin didn't know why Gemma had decided to take a nap when they were a mere twenty minutes from home. Gemma once explained it was something she'd picked up in the reserves, never mess an opportunity to catch some shut eye.

It was a habit, a hardwired survival instinct. Just one of many, Lin knew, that could mean trouble if left unchecked in her current occupation.

"Sit rep?" Gemma said.

"Possible break-in," Lin replied, "and it's report, not sit-rep."

"Yes, chief."

Lin brought her modified Sato-mobile to a stop outside of the custom soap shop, 'Uncle Zhu's Fresh Scents'. Lin observed the broken glass on the street, the sounds of rummaging in the back, and the broken lock on the door.

Lin glanced around, and saw no lights. The entire block was filled with shops, but at this time of night, they should be completely empty.

More than that, this commercial block was on the edge of town. She could see the small park that made up the border of Republic City, and a little past that, stood the gates that made up the borders of the city. The border guards ran a tight ship, but if they were the ones who called it in, why didn't they leave a name?

Everything about this looked wrong. And to Lin, when something looked wrong, it meant a setup.

Lin tried to push that thought to the back of her mind, and she reminded herself that approaching a crime scene with a decided opinion was a sure recipe for disaster.

"Approach?" Gemma said simply, as she went around to the trunk. She popped it open, and began examining the contents. She picked up a metal box several steel boomerangs, and attached the magnetized box to her left thigh. She removed a pair of ceramic gloves, the designs based on those of the Dai Li. When those were secured, she took a sheath with three throwing knives, and attached one to each boot.

"The approach is that this is just a crime scene, not an ambush," Lin saw Gemma reach for a silver pool of wire, and quickly grabbed the younger Beifong by the wrist, "and we don't use that here."

Gemma shot Lin a nervous look.

"We don't use that here," Lin repeated, "I want you to go around back. There's a small out air patio that the businesses sometimes use. Sometimes kids come back here to fool around. They might have been the ones who called in the break in. I'll take the front."

"Understood," Gemma took a few steps, then stopped, "…how do you know that the kids came here?"

Lin blushed, "Your uncle Tenzin wasn't always married to Pema, remember?"

Gemma chuckled.

"And Gemma, if there are offenders?" Lin hated herself for saying what she knew she had to say next, "try to bring them in, okay?"

Gemma's smile fell, and she nodded silently.

"Yes, ma'am."

Lin stepped around the broken glass, and opened the door. She could have used her metal bending the silence the bell that announced her presence, but her gut told her otherwise. Stealth was never her strong suit while in uniform.

Lin looked around, and saw the owner, 'Uncle Zhu', laying on the ground in a pool of blood.

Lin approached him carefully. She was experienced enough to know that the amount of blood was too much, but she had to be certain. The fact that he was cold to the touch was no surprise, but Lin was disappointed all the same.

The wheels in her head began turning, as Lin examined what was now a crime scene. The body was cold to the touch, but the call had just come in only minutes ago. And if he was killed hours ago, why hadn't anyone noticed the broken window?

Everything about this seemed wrong.

And naturally, that was when she heard something in the back room.

oooOOoo

When Gemma found the patio, she willed the ceramic heel of her boot off, and stomped her bare foot to the ground.

She came back with four heartbeats. Two behind trees, one crouched behind a bush and another hidden behind a fountain.

"Attention, my name is Gemma Beifong with the Republic City civil reserve…," Gemma caught herself, "…with Republic City police force. I know you're out there, and I am ordering you to show yourselves now."

The earth spoke to Gemma, and she brought a plough shaped shield of earth a split second before flame washed over her.

A surge of anger and focus swept through Gemma, but then she remembered that look on Lin's face. That disguised look of disappointment, of silent judgment…

"You are assaulting a police officer of Republic City," Gemma knew she was heard, "surrender now, or I will defend myself."

"Get out of here, rust eater!"

Gemma scowled.

"I repeat…"

This time, it was the roar of a jet of water that drowned out Gemma's voice. Her shield was unfazed.

"This is your last warning…!"

This time, it was a rock that would have taken her head off, were it not for her defenses.

"They were warned," Gemma said softly to herself.

She removed one of the metal boomerangs, and threw it aside. The moment before it was outside of her range, she reached out with her metal bending and directed it at the firebender.

Three heartbeats.

"Holy crap, did you see that? She's gotta be a Steel Boar!"

When Gemma heard that, she knew what she had to do. She reached out with her metal bending, and crushed the earth shield that she'd created, and then willed it outwards.

The three men began coughing and hacking as the cloud of dust swept over them, and covered the area like a blanket.

When the dust cleared, the three remaining Benders looked to where Gemma had been standing, and saw no one.

"Did she run?" asked the second Firebender.

"Did you see that boomerang?" said the water bender, "she's got to be a Steel Boar, they don't run!"

"Could she be circling around?" suggested the earth bender.

The bushes a few feet away shook. Within seconds it was destroyed by water, fire and earth.

The earth behind them barely cracked.

Two heartbeats.

"Did we get her?" said the firebender.

"Chen?" the waterbender wiped his brow, "you sense anything? Chen?"

The two benders looked at their friend, and saw that he had slumped to his knees, and he had an ebony stain over his heart.

"Agni," breathed the Firebender, "did you hear anything? What the hell, she's an earth bender, how did we not hear her?"

"We should surrender, we can still surrender!"

"She's a Steel Boar! They don't take prisoners!"

The bushes around the two men began to shake again, only this time it came from all directions.

The hearts of both men began pounding like jackhammers, as they struggled to see where their opponent might be.

Their minds riddled with fear, neither of them thought to look behind them.

Gemma rose from the earth smoothly, with barely any of the rumble or noise one normally associated with an earth bender. The metal wires in her wrist hung loose, and at the ready.

"This is your last…"

Gemma's seismic sense warned her before her eyes did, as the men assumed a combat bending stance. Neither one was about to surrender, and Gemma had enough experience to know when someone was about to kill her.

She willed her metal wire outwards, and struck both men in the heart. In the middle of their bending, both men stopped and looked down, as if confused. Gemma pulled the wires back, and the men fell forward like puppets with their strings cut.

Gemma looked around, double checking with her eyes what her earth bending told her. She checked the pulse of each man, confirming the kill, before she turned her attention to the shop. If there were people laying in wait to kill her, then logically there must be someone waiting for the Chief.

Gemma took off running, mostly on instinct, and was silently grateful that she didn't have to let herself feel the shameful emotions she felt coursing through her just yet.

oooOOoo

Every once and a while, Lin reflected, every cop ran across someone who was destined to only be a thug. That person who's appearance seemed to write the story of their life from the moment they left the womb.

Lin found one such man ransacking the back storage room of the shop. He was easily six feet, with a thick brow, muscles sculpted by a lifetime of heavy labor, and scars that littered his torso. On his back was a hammer, and Lin all but knew he used it as a focus for earthbending.

The man, for whatever reason, hadn't noticed Lin even though she was just down the hallway, and the Chief found that rather curious.

"Excuse me," Lin said politely, "could you please tell me what you're doing here?"

The man stopped, and looked at Lin with confusion. Lin smiled politely, because she suspected that this dim-witted thug wouldn't know what to make of it. A cop addressing him politely, and giving him an opportunity to lie? To him, it must have been as if the moon caught fire.

"I'm…looking for some back pay," the man said, "my name's Marko. I used to work here, see, and I got fired but my boss never paid me! So I just thought I'd come in here, and get what I'm owed, that's all."

"You used to work here," said Lin, "for Uncle Iroh?"

"That's right," Marko nodded eagerly.

"And you didn't kill him?" Lin fought back the urge to scream. This man was so stupid, she had to resist the urge to earth bend him to the Fire Nation. The people who sent him should have tattooed 'patsy' on his forehead to save time.

But why would anyone need a patsy for a simple robbery?

"What? No, no never!"

Lin observed the look of surprise on the man's face. She'd seen that look before, in countless interrogations. The look of when some petty criminal's just realized that there was no honor among thieves, and that they'd just stepped into something so deep that it would swallow them whole.

"Then why are you really here?" Lin did her best to sound sympathetic. She needed this man talking, emotional and afraid. Arresting him would hinder that, at least at the moment.

"I…I…I"

"Attention," Gemma stepped through the door, behind Marko, "you need to place your war hammer on the ground and place your hands above your head, and surrender."

Marko glanced at Gemma, whom he dwarfed, and his eyes bulged, and his face went pale.

"You…you're a Steel Boar…!"

It was at that exact moment that Lin felt everything fall apart.

"Stop, wait!"

Marko grabbed his war hammer, and came at Gemma screaming like a madman. Gemma, acting more on reflex than conscious thought, reshaped her standard issue metal wire into a razor sharp blade, like she'd done so many times before, and her arm became a blur just as Marko was about to crush her skull with his hammer.

The hammer fell away, and Marko stepped back, clutching his stomach. He turned around, slowly, and began walking towards Lin as if nothing had happened at all. Some animal part of his brain just hadn't bothered to tell the rest of him that he was dead.

But Lin knew it was a foregone conclusion, the moment he came at Gemma.

Marko's hand came away from his wound, and Lin saw the damage that had been inflicted.

Lin had grown up on stories as a teenager, of swordsmen who skilled that they could slice a man apart, and not have their opponent realize it until a minute later. Her Uncle Sokka used to brag that the man who taught him swordsmanship (sword bending, when he had too much to drink) could cut through a mile of bamboo, and the first stalk would never fall until the last one had been cut.

That wasn't the sort of wound Gemma had inflicted. Marko's stomach had a gaping wound, like the flesh had been carved out like he was a turkey-duck.

When Marko fell over, Lin could almost feel the answers slipping away with him.

Lin looked up from the corpse, and to Gemma. In a practiced, patient tone, she asked, "What about the others?"

"I attempted to take them into custody," Gemma reported, "when they realized what… who I was…, they didn't allow me to take them into custody."

Lin attempted to keep her face impassive, but that façade broke for a fraction of a second.

And Gemma saw it.

"I tried to get them to surrender!" Gemma snapped, and in the low light of the evening, Lin could still see the eyes of the young woman glisten, "they attacked me, what was I supposed to do?"

Lin stepped over the body, and embraced the young woman, "Calm down, you did the right thing. I know you…"

"I didn't provoke, I identified myself, but they recognized me! That's not my fault!"

Lin carefully ushered Gemma out of the shop, keeping her away from the evidence, and trying to keep her calm.

"No it's not," Lin said, "and I'd rather have dead perps than a dead cop. But you understand that there will be an investigation, right?"

Gemma nodded, trying to dry her eyes.

"I understand," Gemma said.

She'd been through enough of them before.

Lin sat Gemma down in the police car, and reached for the radio. She paused for a second.

"Gemma, re-rack the weapons you didn't use," Lin said.

"But…procedure states that…"

"I know what they state," Lin said, "but do as I say. No need to muddle the report for later, okay?"

Gemma nodded sullenly, and did as she was ordered. When the weapons were stowed, Lin turned called it in.

"This is Chief Beifong," Lin said, "I need a fatality investigation team at my location. We have an officer involved fatality."

"…it may be a while, Chief," said the dispatcher.

"…excuse me?" Lin growled.

"Chief…look up."

Lin glanced to the sky, and saw that it was the wrong color.

Gemma looked towards Lin.

"…what's happening?"

Both Beifongs felt something foul wash over them, and their throats tasted of bile. Evil didn't begin to describe what they felt. It was too simple, too easy, and far, far too small.

And somehow, they knew the cause, the same way they knew their own face. Fear forced the name from their lips.

_Vaatu_.

End Chapter.


	3. Act I Part 2

Chaos Theory

Chapter 2

_The Sato Estate, Earlier_

First year Detective Mako Yin knocked gently on the large oak doors, and waited patiently as the butler opened the door for him.

"I'm here to see Ms. Sato," Mako said, ignoring the man's death glare.

The man silently motioned for Mako to come inside. As Mako stepped in, a man positioned behind one of the estate's many decorative bushes took several quality photos.

Mako was always taken back by the size of the mansion. Even though his own apartment had plenty of legroom, just the foyer was easily twice its size, and the artwork cost more than his yearly salary.

"She's in her private study," said the Butler, with a tone cold enough to make a member of the Water Tribe shiver.

Mako nodded, he knew the way. He did his best to remain impassive, to act as if there was nothing wrong.

He knocked on the door of Asami's study, "Ms. Sato? It's Detective Mako. I'm here for our…appointment?"

"One moment, Detective…"

Asami Sato swung the door open, wearing both a silk nightgown and mischievous grin.

"I just needed to get dressed first."

Mako looked at Asami, his face as red as his flame.

"…get dressed?"

"Oh, come in," Asami grabbed Mako by the collar, pulled him into the room, and slammed the door.

"Ms…Ms. Sato!" Mako stammered, "what's the meaning of this?!"

"I rather thought it obvious," Asami said, "give me a moment to give us some privacy."

Asami went to the window, and drew the blinds. The same man that photographed Mako entering the mansion took a picture of Asami as she drew the blinds.

Mako adjusted his collar, "Ms. Sato, would you please explain yourself?"

"Like I said," Asami's smile faded some, "I thought it obvious…"

Mako's eyes narrowed.

"The Triple Threat Triad," Mako spat.

"They suggested that I make our relationship more…personal," Asami said, "they suggested that I do it before I handed you your bribe."

Mako rubbed the back of his neck, "Asami, I'm sorry about this, I never meant for this…"

"Oh, it's Asami now?" she teased, "don't concern yourself with it, Mako. I'm willing to play along, as long as it helps protect my company. Would you like your bribe money?"

"Please," Mako said, "plus the books. And umm, could you put something more on?"

"Why, do you think I'm ugly?" Asami went to her study, and picked up a suitcase of money, along with her recent financial books.

"What? No! You're…" Mako stopped himself, "…having fun with me, aren't you?"

"You really are a detective, aren't you?" Asami smiled.

"Still a first year," Mako mumbled.

Asami chuckled, "You can start your accounting. I'll change into something more comfortable."

Mako nodded, and began counting the money. He pulled out his notepad, and wrote down the final amount.

When he was done with that, he turned to Asami's books, and began looking for an amount equal to what he'd already written down.

"The amount is taken from the heavy metals," Asami said, "the amount we pay to various earth kingdoms varies. It's how I hide it from the rest of the company."

Mako looked at the numbers.

"I…see?"

Asami chuckled, and took the pen from Mako, "Allow me."

"Thanks," Mako leaned back and sighed, "I knew when I became a cop that there'd be paperwork, but math? Can't say I expected that."

"Is all this necessary?" Asami asked, as she drew the formulas, "I mean, I gave you the money the Triads told me to. Why isn't that enough?"

"Thunderbolt Volt is a lot more clever than his nickname would suggest," said Mako, "do you know why he told you to offer me a bribe?"

"Because he'd rather spend my money than his?"

Mako shook his head, "Because he knew that if it came from him, I'd throw it in his face. So he comes at me through you. That way, if I get caught, I can only point the finger at you."

"And to point the finger at him, I'd have to first admit to bribing a police officer," Asami said.

"Exactly," Mako said, "you did the right thing, coming to me upfront. Chief Beifong's making this case a priority."

"Glad to hear it. The Triads closed down my airship factories for a week the first time," Asami said, "I could barely make payroll. I cannot let that happen again."

"It won't come to that," Mako said, "when the time is right, we'll sweep every last one of them up."

"Well, until then," Asami raised her eyebrows at Mako, "you'll be staying the night, detective."

Mako sighed, "At least this couch is comfortable. And I know why your butler looked like he wanted to feed me to a lion-bear."

Asami winced, "I hadn't thought about that. Perhaps you shouldn't stay for breakfast, then."

Mako took a moment to gather his thoughts, "How…how is your father handling it?"

Asami sucked in a breath, before she said, "I told him the truth."

"What?! You weren't supposed to tell anyone!"

"I didn't tell anyone!" Asami snapped, "I told my father! I don't care what my employees think of me, but my father? He has a right to know! I can't have him thinking I'm…!"

Mako nodded, "I'm sorry, I overreacted. I know this can be stressful, but the fewer people who know, the better."

"My dad isn't about to go gossiping about his daughter the spy," Asami said softly, "I'm the only one he talks to, and just barely at that."

Mako placed his hand over hers, "I'm sorry. Has he come out at all?"

"Only when he needs to deliver new designs," Asami sighed, "maybe that's for the best. The things he mumbles about benders, it's…not exactly polite."

"I know it's hard," Mako said, "but I think you being here helps him a lot. Even when he's locked in that vault."

"Thank you, Mako," Asami said, "if you'd don't mind, I'll head to bed."

"I think I have everything I need," said Mako. He looked at the figures Asami scratched out, and because he struggled to understand them, he decided they were good enough. He could always have the numbers double checked back at the station.

Mako stretched out on the couch (which, sadly enough, was more comfortable than his own bed) and nodded off.

oooOOooo

Mako woke up early, and left without seeing if Asami was still asleep or not. He climbed into his patrol car, with two more photographs taken of him, and drove off.

He considered heading home, but knew it would be empty even this early.

Instead, Mako pulled up to 'Cousin Ying's House of Hungry'. He went inside, nodded to the waitress who always seemed to pull the early shift, and looked around.

"Mako! Over here!"

Mako smiled as he saw his younger brother, Bolin, surrounded by three bowls of noodles. He was still amazed at how his younger brother found the time to breathe in between all that food.

"Morning, bro," Mako said, "did you order for me?"

"Of course!" Bolin said, "but some thief came by and took it. It was the weirdest thing, I swear! So…maybe you should order again?"

Mako smiled as he rolled his eyes, "Of course. You know, how can you eat all that? As much as you chew the scenery on stage, you shouldn't have any room left!"

"I do not chew the scenery," Bolin placed his hand over his heart, and tried to act offended. Tried, "I merely nimble."

"Right," Mako said. The waitress brought him his breakfast, and he thanked her, "anyways, thanks for meeting me here. We don't see each other enough."

"Well, you did have a hot date," Bolin winked.

"Ugh, how many times do I have to say this?" Mako palmed his face, "we are not dating!"

"Come on, it's the most romantic story ever!" Bolin held his hands up, like he was viewing a painting, "Dashing young detective solves cold case for wealthy heiress! The crowds would love it!"

"We're just going over some details of the case," Mako said, half heartily. In truth, while Mako trusted his brother with his life, he wasn't about to tell him he was working on an investigation into the Triple Threat Triads. There was family history there, and Mako didn't want his brother to worry (and of all the options, that was the least stupid reaction Bolin was capable of), "I may be a detective, but I'm still a junior detective. I just don't want it to fall apart when it comes to court."

"Of course, of course, you're concerned about the 'details'," Bolin made air-quotes, "very, very pretty details."

"I've got uniform patrol tonight, at the camps," Mako said, "don't think I'll be able to make it by the stadium to catch your play, sorry."

"Aww," Bolin pouted, "we've finally fixed the second act!"

"I'll catch an act, I promise," Mako said, "but the force is stretched pretty thin, lately. Twelve hour shifts are the new normal, until they get more officers trained."

"…I'm kinda glad not to be a metal bender," Bolin said softly.

"Don't sweat it, bro," Mako said, "this job isn't for everyone. To be honest, it's not for some people who are in the job."

Bolin loosened his collar when he saw that scowl. He'd seen it so many times growing up, when Mako would ruminate on their poor situation, as if saying what could not be changed aloud somehow changed the matter.

The two brothers made small talk, and then went their separate ways.

Mako turned in his bribe money to evidence, and had the quartermaster double-check the figures. The paperwork that came with 'being on the take' took several hours. By the time Mako was finished, he was late for his first patrol.

Mako caught the second shift, alongside a few uniforms he barely knew. Conversation was short when it came to 'camp patrol'. In his time as a cop, Mako had heard countless, bitter jokes. A few months ago, when Mako was on the scene of an Agni Ki revenge killing, six members drowned by a Triple Threat Triad, he must have heard the joke 'What do you call six drowned Agni Ki?'

Answer: 'A good start'.

But there were no decent jokes to be had when it came to camp patrol, gallows or otherwise.

The refugee camps were set up about a mile outside of the city limits. The refugees were almost exclusively from the earth kingdom, trying to escape the countless warlords that plagued the land.

In theory, the camps were just a way-station. Some tried to make it to the Fire Nation, some tried to make it to the outer islands, and some even tried to make it to the poles of the water tribes.

But in practice, the United Republic was as far as they could possibly travel.

Mako never realized how lucky he was, even when he lost his parents to muggers, until he had to patrol the camps.

There were hundreds of families, with just as many tents and temporary homes. They survived on the charity of Republic City, and the hope that they might be allowed to take up residence in the city itself.

But Mako knew that not even half of a tenth of the people would be allowed permanent entry, and in the end, so did they.

But they still needed protection, law and order. And Mako, despite all, was more than willing to provide that little bit.

He went around the camp, smiling and waving at the families he knew. A dozen people asked him to lend them his firebending, and Mako never hesitated to provide.

As a matter of habit, Mako brought his patrol to an end at the tent of 'Old Man Mako'. The man had arrived in the camp a few years before Mako had even enlisted in the police force. For whatever reason, he'd taken umbrage at the fact that a young man had rolled into camp and 'stolen his good name'.

Truth of the matter, the man had lost his entire family to bandits, and would take any attention he could get, and Mako was happy to play along. However much time the man had left, Mako was determined that he'd spend as little of it alone as possible.

"Hey old man, it's the newer model," Mako said, as he stepped into the tent, "how's the classic doing?"

Mako was met with silence, and almost immediately he felt a shiver down his spine. The old man had a bad knee, and rarely traveled far from his tent.

Mako summoned a small amount of flame, and looked around. He saw some tracks in the dirt, and followed them out the back. The old man's tent backed up to the fence that separated the camp from (official) wildlife, and Mako thought he saw drag marks leading from the tent to the fence.

Mako reminded himself that he wasn't a tracker, and that for all he knew Old Man Mako might have simply managed to make some friends, and was at their camp tonight.

But his gut told him things weren't that simple. So he followed the tracks to the fence, and slid past the opening that the refugees would use to come and go as they hunted (though game was always less and less in this area).

Mako looked down for the tracks, only to watch them vanish into the brush.

This is a bad idea, Mako thought, as he called out, "Old man, you out here?"

"Mako!" a terrified voice called out, "Mako, help please!"

Mako turned to the voice, and broke into a dead run, his flame barely bright enough to keep up with his pace. Mako burst through a row of bushes to arrive at the river that provided water to the camp, and saw Old Man Mako, standing terrified next to a hooded man.

"My name is Officer Mako, and I hereby order you to…!"

Mako couldn't finish \ before he saw Old Man Mako vanish into the mud, swallowed by the earth.

"No!" Mako lashed out with two bursts of flame, hot enough to melt flesh but in truth they were little more than a distraction.

Mako began going through the muscle memory of summoning lighting. He knew he was dealing with an earth bender, and in his opinion the only way he was going to be able to save Old Man Mako was if he overwhelmed the earth bender with everything he had. For the first time ever, Mako wished he was partnered with Gemma Beifong.

But when a wave of water reached out from the river and snuffed his flame like a candle, Mako froze.

"This isn't your concern, little boy," said the Hooded Figure. The only thing Mako could recognize about the voice was that it was male.

The Avatar was female, wasn't she?

"Bring him back!" Mako said as he brushed the thought aside, and snapped out of his stupor. Old Man Mako only had a few more minutes of life, if that, "now, that's an order!"

"Foolish boy, do you really think I respect your authority?" said the Hooded Man.

Mako's response were two fast fireballs, as he carged the man, trying to bridge the distance between them.

The man reached out with his bending, and two bricks of earth came flying at Mako's head from the ground. Mako leapt to the side, and rolled to his feat. He was a second away from summoning lightning, when, for the second time in the same night, he was too stunned to move.

The Hooded Man was surrounded by a thin ring of fire that burned unlike any fire Mako had ever seen. He'd heard the stories of lava benders, and even seen one once, yet this seemed so very different.

"This needn't end with your death," said the Hooded Man, "if would be such a waste."

Mako narrowed his eyes, "I'm not dead yet."

"Yet."

Flame flew at Mako, and it took every ounce of experience the young bender had, from living on the streets, from pro-bending to his few years on the force, to avoid being burned to death. The flame seemed to land like molten lava.

Mako was considered an exceptional fire-bender by anyone who saw him practice, and he made a point to keep himself as fit as a cop as he was as a pro-bender.

But he still had the same limitations that bound everyone else, up to and including luck. As he dodged a stab of flame, his foot caught a root, and with his speed he slammed into the dirt bodily.

The air was driven from his lungs, and for a moment his brain swirled. Mako knew he was in danger, and rolled to his side…

…and found that he was alone. Almost.

Old Man Mako's head was above ground now, for what little it mattered.

"Damn it all," Mako muttered. He concentrated, and sent two bolts of lightning into the air. He counted until thirty, and did it again.

Mako went through the recent events in his mind. The person he'd seen was male, yet he controlled the earth, water and fire effortlessly.

Was there a new Avatar? Or was this something else?

Mako could almost feel something so much bigger than him, swirling around him now. He looked up at the skies, hoping to clear his mind, when he noticed the color of night had changed.

He felt ill, down to his core, and his mouth tasted so foul he had no words to describe it.

And a single name invaded his thoughts.

_Vaatu_.

End Chapter


	4. Act 1 Part 3

Chaos Theory

Chapter 3

_Zaofu_

Suyin Beifong felt the morning sun on the horizon as she awoke. She allowed herself to remain in bed for ten minutes before she finally swung her feet off the bed, and started her long, long day.

It was one of the few luxuries she allowed herself these days.

She showered and dressed inside of ten minutes, and made her way to the dining hall.

She smiled as she found her children, along with Kya, already there waiting for her.

"Good morning, mom," Opal said with a genuine smile, despite it all. Suyin always admired her daughter for that, "sleep well?"

"Well enough," Suyin replied.

"Glad you're here, mom, because we have a problem," Huan said, "the crop production…"

"It's not a problem," Wei interrupted, "it's a miscalculation, and not a bad one at that!"

"If you and Wing didn't always turn everything into a competition…!"

"Enough," Suyin said, not in a yell, but loud enough to be heard throughout the room, "today will bring enough challenges, honey, there's no reason to bring them to breakfast as well."

"I agree," said Kya, "and in today's world, there are worst problems than having too much food. Did you sleep well, Su?"

"Well enough," Suyin sighed, "how has your training of the new healers come?"

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk shop here," Kya said, "but since you asked…"

Suyin smiled despite herself. Meals with the family never went as planned, and frankly, that was fine with her.

And it seemed that the moment Suyin finished her meal, she was found by her main administrator slash truth-seer, Aiwei.

"Suyin!" the man's face was pale, and Suyin knew almost immediately what subject he was about to broach, "Ghatak of the Hami clan wants to meet with you."

"I am well aware of Ghatak's clan," Suyin deadpanned.

"I'm sorry, it's just you know how…"

Suyin's glare silenced Aiwei immediately.

"I'll meet with him," Suyin said, "I assume he's in my office?"

"Correct."

"Tell him I'll be there in a few hours," Suyin replied, "I have to make some inspections, do inventory and such. If the matter were that important, he should have made an appointment."

Aiwei quivered, "Are you sure that's wise?"

"The Hami clan owe me a debt," Suyin said, "if they wish to abdicate it because their leader couldn't be bothered to make an appointment ahead of time, that's their business."

Aiwei nodded. They both knew that the moon would fall from the sky before the Hami clan broke their word.

Suyin knew she should feel more guilt for exploiting her friend, Aiwei like this. The man was a confident, capable man…except when it came to dealing with members of the Hami clan, who in truth gave many people reason to fear them, for generations before, during and after the 100 year war.

And they were only made deadlier by Suyin.

And because they were what insured Zaofu's safety and security, he had to deal with them on a regular basis, and Suyin wondered if the man would ever be comfortable dealing with them, despite having done so for years now.

Suyin went about her day, and made a point of finding every excuse she could not to visit her office.

First she visited her oldest son, Huan, in the engineer's wing. He, along with several other gifted engineers and metal-benders, were trying to develop a hydro-electric generator that could be assembled by non-benders.

"We'll never get this right!" Huan huffed as he tore up another set of plans.

"We never will if we don't keep trying," Suyin hugged her son, calming him somewhat, "you'll get it, I'm sure."

After that consultation, Suyin found her twins, Wei and Wing, in the fields.

The two boys were drenched in sweat, but each had a goofy smile that flashed each time they glanced at one another. Nothing, not war, not the constant heat or urgent need, could keep them from competing against one another.

"Well, remember how I said we should try to narrow our earth bending, to focus on certain minerals," Wei began, "well, I noticed a certain mineral that…"

"We noticed," Wing interrupted, "I spent all those hours meditating with you too!"

"Sweeties," Suyin smiled, "just get to the point. What's this I hear about a surplus?"

Wing rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "We may have drawn too much phosphorus into the ground."

"That's not an answer, honey."

"We're two tons over projections," Wei finally said, "in all the fields."

"Two…tons?" Suyin choked.

"Maybe a little more, but…"

"But that's enough!" Suyin smiled.

Two tons of extra wheat, of apples and fruit. It was enough food to…

Suyin's thoughts darkened.

Enough food to go to waste. Too much food to ever get to where it needed to go in time. And too much food to allow to go to waste.

Suddenly, meeting with the head of the Hami clan seemed to be less than an annoyance, and now a necessity.

But still, Suyin procrastinated. The meetings always left a foul taste in her mouth no matter how polite the Clan head tried to be.

Some sins of the past were hard to forgive.

So instead Suyin checked in on her daughter, Opal, and 'cousin', Kya in the Zaofu hospital wing.

Suyin found her daughter in the burns ward, reading the book 'Twelve Stories of Ba Sing Sa'.

"The young Lu Ten tipped toed into the garden," Opal's voice lowered to almost a whisper, "but when he turned the corner, he found the candle was lit in the princess' room!"

"She's okay!" shouted one of the children.

"Let her finish, let her finish!"

Suyin smiled, as the children seemed to hang on her daughter's every word. Rather than interrupt, Suyin left her daughter without ever letting her know she was there, and went to find Kya.

She found the water bender with a half dozen other water benders with twice as many men and women as patients. Most of them were laying in bed, some too exhausted to do much more than open their eyes.

"Kya, a moment?"

Kya glanced to a younger waterbender. A silent exchange passed between them, andthen excused herself.

"How goes it?" Suyin said.

"We can expect this group to pull through," Kya said, "the airship reached us just in time. Can't say that about many."

"No, no we can't," Suyin said, "I need your opinion on something. Thanks to the twins, we've literally tripled out food production."

"That's great, that's my opinion!" Kya said. She saw the look on Suyin's face, "why isn't that great?"

"Because it's more food than we need here, and more food than we can distribute before it goes bad," Suyin said, "unless…"

"Unless we reach out to United Republic," Kya finished.

"Or the Fire Nation."

Kya raised an eyebrow, "Do you really think we could reach out to them? I mean, General Iroh isn't focused on search and rescue."

Suyin shook her head, "No, that was just wishful thinking. Even if they gave it priority…"

Suyin's voice trailed off, leaving unspoken the things Kya and she knew. The scars of the 100 year war had begun to flare anew after the death of the Earth Queen, and the chaos that followed. Some former colonies reached out, petitioned the Fire Nation for membership, in turn for protection and stability while others that had never been part of the colonies tried to join them now.

And while that was happening, several Red Lotus attacks, attacks that had killed hundreds including Ursa, the Fire Queen, had forced the Fire Nation to launch military operations into the earth nation itself, in hopes of finding and ending the Red Lotus threat.

Some called it self-defense. Others called it an occupation. Tensions seemed to rise daily, and Suyin knew that all the good her city was doing would be washed away if she sought to get in the middle of that.

The United Republic was the only real option she had to seek for assistance, if she wanted her work to remain palpable to the very same people she sought to save.

"That's it, essentially."

"Can we keep this amount of production up?" Kya said.

"I'd have to talk to the boys, but I think so," Suyin smiled, "don't tell anyone yet, but I think those two have developed mineral bending."

Kya threw her head back and laughed, "You Beifongs, never satisfied with regular earth bending, are you?"

"Apparently not," Suyin said, "I'm heading over to see Ghatak now. I just wanted to know, if I tried to reach out to Republic City, do you think I'd meet any resistance here?"

"You mean you know the Red Lotus may come after us," Kya said.

Suyin nodded.

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say, let them try," Kya growled, "let them show the world what kind of people they really are. And let the Hami earn their keep for once."

Suyin smiled, "My thoughts exactly, Kya. Thank you."

ooOOoo

Suyin casually strode into her office, and found the leader of the Hami sand clan, Ghatak, sitting patiently in the chair before her desk.

He stood up, and politely bowed, as always.

Ghatak was a man long in years. His skin was tanned despite not having been in the desert in years, his hands carried heavy scars and on his face was a rugged beard. He had two swords resting on his hip. As per his clan's custom, one was reserved for an ally and the other for the enemy, though in the few times Suyin had seen him in combat, neither sword was spared on an enemy.

"Ghatak, good to see you," Suyin said. A childhood of growing up with Toph and Lin enabled Suyin to fake sincerity effortlessly, "I apologize for keeping you waiting. What did you need to see me about?"

"There is a three ton surplus in crops this year," Ghatak said.

Suyin raised an eyebrow, "Three? I was told it was two."

"Your sons were being modest," Ghatak said, "I had my clansmen double check. The surplus is just in excess of three tons."

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

Ghatak was silent for a moment, then said, "No. I am well aware of the…difficulties this could create. The ramifications. I simply wanted you to know that whatever you decide, the Hami clan stand by our blood oath."

_Except when you don't_, Suyin thought bitterly, "Do all your clan feel this way?"

"We all feel our debt to you is greater than one lifetime," Ghatak said, "we will not be swayed by the Red Lotus, and we will protect your city. Even if that means our deaths."

Suyin sighed. Ghatak's words made her decision all the easier, and yet, all the harder.

"Does this protection apply to any and all guests?" Suyin asked.

Ghatak stiffened. The answer seemed to hang in his mouth, before he said, "It will. On our clan honor."

"Thank you," Suyin said.

Ghatak bowed politely, and left without another word.

Suyin slumped back in her chair. Ironically, she hated herself for the vitriol that she felt towards Ghatak, just as much as she hated how he never once seemed to recognize it.

Suyin tried not to dwell on it, as she tackled the mountain of paperwork that surrounded her desk.

Suyin had no idea how long she worked, but that was hardly out of the ordinary. She reviewed new building projects, examined cost projections for the next few months, and went through so much paper that by the end of it, she found that she envied her mother's blindness.

When Suyin finally, finally found herself at a decent stopping point, she glanced out the window and saw the sun had long fled.

"Not again," Suyin sighed. She realized that she'd missed dinner with the family, and with a heavy sigh, realized that most of her family may have done the same. That would have been the only reason why they hadn't found her and dragged her out of her office.

Suyin took a look at the family photo that sat on her desk, of her five children, sister and mother, from their vacation in the Fire Nation and like every time before, she wondered if spent more time with that picture of her family than she did with her actual flesh and blood.

"Spirits help me if I become my mother," she sighed as she stood up, and cracked her back. She recognized the irony of how this war had both torn apart her family, and helped reunite it at the same time. But she wondered, what was it doing to her family now?

Suyin had just closed the door to her office, when she saw the sky change color, and felt as if her blood itself had been turned to bile.

A name echoed through her skull.

_Vaatu_.

End Chapter.


	5. Act 1 Part 4

Chaos Theory

Chapter 4

The young man known as Kai took a steadying breath. The walls of the camp were high, but whatever earth bender created them hadn't put any thought into keeping them away from the trees.

Their mistake. A decade plus of failure hadn't made the Dai Li any less arrogant.

And a lifetime of scavenging, of quick getaways, had taught Kai to find a handhold virtually anywhere. The tree might have well as been a staircase to him, and then leapt onto the twelve foot wall, balancing on the thin earth effortlessly.

Kai held his breath, waiting for a Dai Li agent to come out and investigate. Kai had heard stories of earth benders who could sense the tiniest vibration of the earth.

But no one came. The guards who watched the walls, never turned their heads to look at the sky. Most simply did their best to stay awake, and they were on patrol in only the technical sense.

They only thought they had nothing to fear.

Kai moved quickly along the wall. No matter how lazy the guards, it was hard to miss a young boy on a wall. No sense in pressing his luck.

"Hey, stop!"

Kai froze, and in his head he saw the image of a rock smashing him in the chest, and his life ending in the pain of a crushed chest and a high fall.

But the rock never came. Kai cast his eyes towards the camp, and saw two men wrestling on the ground at the other end of the compound. The first one seemed to have some small animal clutched to his chest, while the other one clawed at it, trying to take it from him.

Kai couldn't make out the animal, and he realized just how horrible that was. The two were fighting over vermin so small it could barely be seen.

Two members of the Dai Li went to separate the two men squabbling, and Kai knew he'd never have a better chance.

He moved quickly along the wall, and leapt down across from the women's barracks.

Kai sneered. The Dai Li called it the women's barracks, sure, but it was only for the women who caught the eye of the base commander and his lackeys.

Kai had heard stories of the Dai Li, from before the fall of the Earth Queen. Everyone seemed to agree that they were even worse then, but Kai wasn't so sure.

At least when the Earth Queen was around, there was someone who could tell the Dai Li what not to do.

Kai opened the door silently (having oiled it a few days before), and started counting off the beds. He found the one he was looking for, and shook the occupant awake.

The young woman awoke with a start, and Kai covered her mouth before she could say anything.

"Hana, it's me!"

The young woman looked at her friend in complete surprise.

"Kai?" she whispered, "I thought you ran away…"

"I escaped," Kai corrected.

"Escaped, why?"

"Look, it's not important," Kai hissed, "what's important is that we have to get out of here, now!"

"And go where?" Hana said.

"Anywhere!" Kai replied, "look, I have friends outside. But we have to go now!"

"Why?"

Kai grabbed his head, and struggled not to pull the hair from his head.

"Do you really like what happens here?" Kai said. He knew it was cruel to throw what they had done to her in Hana's face, but time was limited, "is it fair?"

"No, but…" Hana looked away, trying to hide the tears, "but I'm not hungry anymore. And I'm safe. Why would I ever want to leave?"

Because of what they make you do for food. Because of what they take from you, Kai thought to himself, but he said…

"Hana," Kai felt his stomach form a pit, and said, "The Earth Queen has invited you to Lake Laogai."

Kai made sure to say the words with a precise tone, and perfect inflection. And when he did, Hana turned her head, and her eyes seemed to glaze over.

"I am honored."

Kai wanted to scream, to kill, to throw aside every survival instinct he had and just attack the first Dai Li agent he saw. But a lifetime focused on survival, on living, on escape was stronger than that hate. And in the beat of an eye, both emotions were swallowed up by guilt.

"Hana…" Kai kept his tone controlled, and considered his words carefully. If he gave an order that went against any of the other standing orders she had already been given…

Kai had seen the results. Anyone would have chosen death instead.

"Be happy, be safe, and go to bed."

"I am honored," Hana laid back in her bed, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Kai tore out of the building as fast as his legs could carry him. He climbed atop the tool shed, and was on the wall in seconds.

Despite his utter lack of care, Kai went unnoticed. Maybe it was because the guards at this time of night were the lazy ones, the ones who drew the short straw. Or maybe it was because they just didn't care about one less mouth to feed.

Kai ran until he couldn't anymore, and that was when the tears came. He didn't notice the color of the sky, and the twisting in his gut was completely indistinguishable from the pain and guilt that was already raging inside of him.

But he couldn't help but notice when another voice invaded his mind. All he heard was a name.

_Vaatu_.

End Chapter.


	6. Act 1 Finale

Chaos Theory

Chapter 5

"Spirits, the Rough Rhinos…" Wan gasped, "…how did they find us?!"

"Shh!" Rin tried to silence her brother. The two of them were crossing an open field, and even though they would have seen pursuit a mile away, literally, she wasn't about to take any chances, "save your breath for running!"

"We didn't…we were just trying to survive! We just delivered messages!" Wan said, tears in his eyes, "we never killed anyone! …did we?"

"It doesn't matter to them," replied Wan, "it's the Rough Rhino! They don't care about any of that! All they want is blood!"

"Oh, but we do," said a new, soft voice, "in fact, we do this horrible thing that we do, because we can't not care."

Rin felt tears in her eyes, when she heard that voice. It could belong to only one person.

She yanked her dagger from the sheath on her belt, and tried to plunge it in her stomach, but a strong, firm hand caught her wrist just as the steel bit flesh.

"Oh no," the grip on Rin's wrist became searing hot, and she dropped the knife, "we don't want that, not yet."

She looked to her brother, and saw a man standing behind him, wearing a blue Oni mask with a sword in each hand. Wan was on his knees, hands bound behind his back, and the tip of a sword at his throat.

"Please…please don't do this," Rin wept.

"Please do not act as if this were my fault," said the fire bender, "this is the end you chose when you joined the Red Lotus."

"We never hurt anyone!" Wan said, half believing, "we just delivered messages!"

"As if that were not enough, you are believer of the Red Lotus," the Fire Bender said, "and that? That is enough. You, and all your ilk, know us, do you not?"

"…yes," Rin whispered.

"Good," the Firebender grabbed the young woman by the hair, and dragged her back to their camp, "but it's clear to me that you don't know us well enough. Come along young lady, you require an education."

Neither Rin nor Wan had really seen the Rough Rhinos when they attacked. All they heard was an old Fire Nation warhorn, their signature announcement, and then the camp had erupted into chaos. Earth, arrows, water and fire flew with lethal precision.

All the siblings could do was run.

It was only now that they saw how few their attackers were. There were two members of the Southern Water tribe who looked to be twins, an archer wearing old Fire Nation warpaint, a large man, six foot if he was an inch, with metal ribbons hanging from his wrists, a statuesque woman who wore a forger's apron and carried two glowing hot swords, and the last was bare-chested man in Hami sand clan garb.

Rin saw her comrades were in the center of the camp, sunken into the earth but to their necks. The large man stared at them like a wolf ready to lunge.

"General," said one of the water benders, "we were able to claim one of their codebooks."

"Excellent," said the Fire-Bender, "but it may not be enough. The Red Lotus changes their methods all the time."

The Fire Bender grinned at Rin.

"You rats always find new ways to scurry about, don't you?"

"Please," Rin said softly, "we never meant to hurt anyone. We'll turn ourselves in, we'll do anything, you don't have to do this!"

The Fire Bender sighed dramatically.

"Yes, yes we do," he said, "because of you, actually. Thresh?"

Rin quivered as the large man with the metal ribbons stalked over to them.

"…why me?" Rin's voice was barely above a whisper.

The Fire bender pushed Rin to her knees, and stepped in front of her.

"Because you know me, and yet, you still cling to the disgusting ideals of the Red Lotus," he spat, "you spread the disease of war across the earth nation while claiming to cure it! And now, when faced with a monster equal to your own cause, you beg and mew pathetically. You know my name, and yet you do not fear it!"

"Please…!"

"Thresh," the Fire Bender pointed to Wan, "the brother."

The metal ribbons on Thresh's wrist moved like a living thing, and entangled Wan until nothing could be seen of him except for a metal cocoon, that Thresh hoisted above his head.

Wan's screams were hard to hear through the metal, and above that of his sister's.

"Please! I did this! I made him join!" Rin begged, her face a mess of tears and snot. She remembered how she promised her mother, promised her father that she would always protect her little brother, and now he was little more than a scrap of meat in the mouth of a wolf, "hurt me! Not him! I'll do anything!"

"If you want my mercy," the Fire Bender opened his palm, and a blue flame emerged from his flame, "then pray to me. Say my name, say the name that you so casually disregarded. Say! My! Name!"

"Zhao!" Rin screamed, choking back sobs, "General Zhao! The great and powerful! Zhao!"

"…it's never Admiral," he muttered

"I beg you!" Rin tugged at General Zhao's pants like a pauper begging a king, "Please! Kill me, just spare my brother!"

"Very well," the young Firebender smirked, "the spirits returned me home to bring balance, to make penance for my wrongs. Butching your brother won't bring that. I see that now. Thresh?"

Thresh channeled his will through the metal that held Wan, and the metal cocoon shrank, and blood rained down on Thresh like a summer's mist. With a shrug, he lit his ribbons fall to the earth in front of Rin, and reveal what was now left of her brother.

No one who didn't know it was once a young man before, would have recognized it as once a human being now.

"Nooooo…!" Rin lunged at General Zhao, but he slapped her aside effortlessly.

"You promised! You said…!"

"I said I would spare him, and I did," said the General, "you, and the rest of your band, will not be nearly so fortunate. Thresh?"

Rin felt the blood soaked hand of the earth bender tighten around her throat. The giant of a man loomed over Rin, the blood of brother dripping from his brow, and falling unto hers.

"Thresh is not a man of many words, I'm afraid," said General Zhao, "not after he lost his family to bandits, after the Red Lotus was kind enough to kill the local tribal leader. He was simply a farmer, who taught himself metal bending. He speaks only through action."

Rin struggled, but the man's grip was iron.

"But his old life still comes in handy. You would be amazed how many animals he knows how to skin."

_Much, much later_

"That was a bit much, wasn't it?"

General Zhao, who had been pondering the night sky, turned his head to face his subordinate.

"Maybe," General Zhao said, "but the point of what we do is to instill fear. So much fear that any fool who even thinks of joining the Red Louts will look to the shadows to find us. And that is not accomplished with a subtle, nuanced performance."

"Nor is it accomplished, General," Esna said the title sarcastically, "if you don't leave anyone alive to spread the word. Dead men tell no tales."

"Is that why you simply watched?"

"We told you, 'Genera', that we have limits," Desna said, "we're here to avenge our father, not indulge in sadism."

General Zhao shrugged, "Fair enough. Force of habit, I suppose. I was still debating what to do with the codebook, and got a little carried away."

"And what do we do with it, General?" said Deska, "we lack the resources to use it properly. We should turn it over to the Water Tribe, or the Fire Nation. Maybe even the United Republic."

"Maybe," General Zhao rubbed his chin, "but we know from experience that the Red Lotus is adaptable, fluid. If they know that one of the major nations has compromised their security, they could change everything before a lethal blow could be landed."

"What makes you certain that you could even read it?" asked Esna, "Zaheer's people would have anticipated the possibility of their codebooks falling into enemy hands. And you've left no one alive who might be able to read it."

General Zhao smirked, "My father was something of a military genius, and he taught me well. I'm confident that I can decipher the book, in time."

"Yes, but…" Desna glanced to the sky, and the words in her mouth trailed off. The sky became an ugly color, and the two twins felt as if their heart was filled with oil.

"My home…," General Zhao doubled over as every inch of his body felt as if it were cast in flame. He felt as if every ounce of agony he'd inflicted in his life had come back to him ten fold, and yet, the fear for the fate of the Spirit world was all that he allowed in his mind, "…what's happening to my home?!"

A name sank into their minds, into the mind of every member of the Rough Rhinos, but only General Zhao could speak the name aloud with all hatred and bile it truly deserved.

"Vaatu!"

End Chapter.


	7. Act 2 Part 1

Chaos Theory

Chapter 6

Act 2, Part 1

_The Earth Port City of Tianjin_

"Extra, extra, read all about it! The Red Lotus defeat ancient evil known as Vaatu!" yelled the young man. The market around him moved with a quickened pace, as men and women went about their morning business, "world saved in battle in the Spirit world!"

"One copy, please."

The young man took the money, and handed the man his paper.

"Thank you," said Hannibal Chau. The Fire Nation General looked at the paper, and skimmed the headlines below 'Red Lotus defeat ancient evil'.

"I must admit, that was pretty anti-climactic."

Like everyone else in the world, Hannibal Chau had felt the vile filth invade every cell of his body, and saw the color of the sky change. And while the plague of evil seemed to last an eternity, in truth it passed inside of ten minutes, with no one any the wiser as to what had actually happened.

Though every newspaper claimed otherwise, for the last four days and counting.

Hannibal scanned the article, digging through hyperbole in an effort to find the actual facts. He found little when he was done, compared to the size of the article. Those who could reach the Spirit World confirmed that during something called a 'Harmonic Convergence', there had been some sort of battle, the portal to the spirit world in both portals had been damaged, that the Red Lotus had been involved and an ancient, evil spirit known as Vaatu had been imprisoned again, for another ten thousand years.

The Fire Nation General thought the article was amazing in what it left out. How did the Red Lotus know Vaatu was a threat? How did they seal him away? And how did Vaatu get as far as he did?

Chau was tempted to burn the paper to ash on general principle, but hated the waste of money and temper that would represent.

And today was his day off. No need to pollute it with negative emotions.

So the General turned down the alley that he always used on his evening walk, and came to a halt when he observed two young men at the end of the alley, and sensed a third man behind him. The boys couldn't have been older than sixteen by his estimate, and wore earth nation clothes.

"Have you a statement to make?" Hannibal sighed, tucking the paper under his elbow.

"Yeah, give us your money, old man," said the biggest of the boys.

General Chau raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"What? You look of money, so hand it over!"

General Chau chuckled.

"I simply like to look nice, young man. Being regional director for the Fire Nation does pay well, but not as well as you'd think."

"Bull! Now hand it over!"

General Chau could sense a man, large and brutish, standing behind him, but he refused to look behind him.

"You're new in town, aren't you?" said Chau, "I imagine that anyone well dressed and not starving looks as rich as a Beifong to you. I assure you, nothing could be farther from the truth."

"I don't want to hear another thing…!"

General Chau expelled a burst of flame from his feet, launching himself backwards. He spun in midair, and his elbow caught the man perfectly in the side of the head and sent him face first into the alley wall.

"Gentlemen, you need to consider why a General is walking alone in Tianjin," said the General.

The boy with the knife lunged for General. The General lashed out with a kick that just barely missed the boy's head, and the boy thought it was luck until the General snapped his heel backwards, catching him in the back of the head and dragging him down.

Before he knew it, the boy had the General's leg wrapped around his throat, and he was struggling to breathe. The General leveled his left hand at his face, and his right hand was leveled at his partner.

"I walk alone, a Fire Nation general, in an earth nation city," Hannibal said, "to show everyone I can."

"Please…don't…don't kill us!"

General Hannibal shook his head.

"I would, if I didn't have to deal with the paperwork, and if I thought it would teach you a lesson."

Hannibal glanced aside, and saw that in the melee he'd dropped his paper. With a grunt, he released the boy with the knife.

"You," the General pointed at the third boy.

"…yes?" squeaked the boy.

Hannibal handed him several yen, "Get me a new paper. And I expect exact change!"

The boy nodded numbly, and rushed off.

"If…if he doesn't return, will you kill me?" blubbered the boy who'd welded the knife.

Hannibal flinched.

"No, I'll just arrest both of you for assaulting a Fire Nation general," Hannibal said, "but I hope to avoid that."

_Because it would be a badge of honor_, Hannibal thought to himself.

General Chau waited patiently, and as he hoped the boy returned with the paper.

"Thank you," General Chau took the paper, "keep the change."

The boys looked at the General, baffled. He suspected that these youngsters had little experience dealing someone who spoke to them with respect.

"There are no shortage of jobs in this city," Hannibal said. He bent over, picked up the paper that had fallen in the dirt and handed it to one of the boys, "there are ads for jobs in here. Good luck."

General Chau gave them a polite nod, and left. He strolled down the block, until he came to the restaurant '_A Whispering Cave'_.

The Greeter recognized him, and escorted him downstairs, and to his reserved table.

The entire establishment was built into a cavern, and an ingenious inventor had integrated an organ piano into the cave's stalagmites to create some of the finest music General Chau had ever heard.

The waiter brought the General his meal without the man having ever ordered. The advantage of being a creature of habit, the General believed, was that people knew what to expect of him.

General had just taken a sip of tea, when a man dressed as a pauper approached his table.

"May I sit?"

The General paused, then set the cup down.

"Be my guest."

The man pulled out a chair, and turned his head to the performer.

"You know," the man said, "this music is amazing on several levels. Tianjin was the first Earth Nation conquered during the 100 year war, and yet, at the same time, wasn't.

As the closest earth city to the Fire Nation, it was only natural that they were overwhelmed first. The Fire Nation spilled across the country through this very city, but in this same city, they never stamped out the will of the people. No matter how many garrisons were stationed here, no matter how many dissents they executed, the people resisted."

"The people of the Earth Nation are a stubborn people," General Chau said. He began tapping his finger on the table, "as stubborn as the mountains are high, my grandfather used to say."

"And he was right," said the Stranger, "and this organ music was once part of their resistance. The pianist would deliver coded messages, hidden in the notes, the melody. The resistance planned attacks, shared intelligence and discussed potential recruits , all while the Fire Nation soldiers grew fat from the stolen wealth of the earth nation and its people. This music is the definition of underground."

"I know," General Hannibal Chau finished his tea with a large gulp, "my grandmother was the last code speaker before the end of the war. At the moment, the musician is insulting the size of Fire Nation…, well…lets just the music is wonderful if you ignore the insulting subtext."

"But thank you for the attempt at a history lesson…Zaheer."

The leader of the Red Lotus leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised you recognized me," Zaheer said, "I thought I'd destroyed all the old photos of myself."

"You did," said General Chau, "but we met with all your past associates, and had an artist recreate your face. It's advised that Fire Nation soldiers above a certain rank memorize it."

"Well, that saves me some trouble."

"I live to serve," said Hannibal, "so what brings the leader of the Red Lotus to this establishment?"

"I simply like the music," Zaheer said.

"Do you think that there'll ever be an underground song about you?" Hannibal asked, "about how you saved the world?"

"I should hope."

"How about how you killed the Avatar?"

Hannibal took note of the shock on Zaheer's face. It was far from what he expected.

"I didn't kill the Avatar," Zaheer snapped.

"We'd heard reports about how you brought the Avatar to your fellow Red Lotus members, displaying her like a show ostrich-horse. I imagine having the promise of the Avatar for your cause was quite the recruitment tool."

Zaheer was silent.

"But then I read an intelligence report out of Republic City, just yesterday. A young detective reported an encounter with a man, a murderer who displayed control over the earth, water and fire."

"The boy is lying," Zaheer growled, "lying to advance his career and lying because the government wants to discredit us."

"That was my first thought," the General said, "but the boy didn't use the word 'Avatar' in his first report. Nor did his second, or third. The details are too…imprecise to be a conspiracy of ours."

"That…is troubling," Zaheer admitted.

"Well, not as troubling as sitting across from a terrorist leader," said General Chau.

"And yet you barely seem concerned," observed Zaheer.

"I am but a calm drop in a sea of concern," said General Chau.

"Iroh?"

"My son loves his poetry," said Chau, "but you know why I have that drop of calm, don't you?"

"I've long since given up trying to truly understand the minds of men who sell themselves to an unnatural order," said Zaheer, "you have your path, and I have mine."

"I have my calm, because I have order," General Chau tapped on the table quicker, "Because I have my routine. I enjoy meals in this fine establishment every day I have off. I take the same way to and from the fort. I order the same meals, from the same cook, so that I know the taste as well as I know my own reflection."

"One could argue that being such a dedicated creature of habit is a weakness," Zaheer said, "it's how I found you, after all."

"But there advantages. When someone wants to kill me, I force them to choose my ground. I know at what angles they can come at me from. And…"

General Chau snapped his fingers, and metal cuffs flew across the room and slammed down on Zaheer's wrists. Zaheer found himself surrounded by two metal benders, and three fire benders.

"I have back-up where I need it, when I need it," said General Chau, "but I suspect you already knew that."

Zaheer said nothing.

General Chau looked at his men.

"Corporal Chen," General Chau said.

"Yes General?"

"Get to Fort Iroh," ordered the General, "I want the base put on high alert and every non combatant out. I don't want to see so much as a janitor when we return. Understood?"

"Understood."

The Corporal dashed out, and General Chau could feel the attention of the entire establishment falling on him and his men.

"This is just a civil matter," the General said, loud enough to be heard, "no reason for the music to stop."

"Sir? Shouldn't we be heading back to base?" asked one of the men, "this…Zaheer!"

"We have time," said General Chau, "we did not find this man, he found us. And that is a very dangerous thing. In any game, the most dangerous move is the one that is dictated by your enemy."

"You should listen to him, young man," said Zaheer, his eyes never leaving the General, "your General understands what is happening here."

"And what is that?"

"Today is the day our order, our nature, truly clashes."

"Today is the true start of history."

End Chapter.

Notes:

Yeah, that's a Pacific Rim shout out. I love Ron Pearlman, what can I say?


	8. Act 2 Part 2

Chaos Theory

Chapter 7

Act 2, Part 2

_The Earth Port City of Tianjin, Fort Iroh_

General Hannibal Chau could feel Zaheer's eyes resting on him as they returned to the fort. He knew the terrorist was planning something, and it worried him more than words could ever express that he had no idea what it could be.

"Tell me, do you think renaming the fort in honor of a beloved ambassador of peace, in any way lessens the wound you've inflicted on the Earth Kingdom?" Zaheer asked, finally.

"I think my superiors thought it would invoke the idea that the Fire Nation has changed, despite appearance," General Chau said, "Iroh was the Dragon of the West before he became a respected mediator, poet and creator of fine teas."

"Nature can be fluid in its own way," Zaheer said, "but no name can change the fact that a Fire Nation base in the Earth Kingdom is onerous by its very nature."

"I'd agree with you, if the Earth Kingdom weren't rife with Red Lotus agents," said General Chau, "we'll leave the second they…and you, are dealt with."

"Not if one looks at history," Zaheer observed.

"History is being written every day, as you've observed," General Chau stopped as he and his men reached the entrance of the fort, "secure the prisoner in the interrogation room. I'll be along in a moment. If he resists in any way, kill him. If you see him even thinking of trying to escape, kill him. Understood?"

The guards saluted without a word.

General Chau lingered at the entrance, his eyes scanning the buildings around the fort. He'd been in enough battles to know when the enemy had eyes on him, he could feel it in the hairs on his neck but damned if it ever gave him any sort of advantage.

He looked around the street, to see if there were any signs of protesters, or anyone on the street who shouldn't be. He saw nothing, but that didn't mean there was nothing to see.

"And today started so well."

oooOOooo

"He's in," Ming-Hua lowered the telescope, and turned to the other occupants in the room, "we need to get moving, to keep with the time table."

"Relax," Ghazan said, "we've been over this a dozen times, babe. We all know the plan."

Ming-Hua paced back and forth inside the apartment. The tension that always came before an attack seemed to drive her up the wall.

"I'll get the others," P'Li said, "Ghazan, get down to the basement and rally our supporters. Let them know that she'll be along in a moment. Ming-Hua, I'll send Hiro along in a moment with your equipment. Today is our boldest statement, my friends. Lets meet it with conviction."

The two nodded. The entire floor had been reserved, and P'Li assigned the other three their own room. She went to the closest room first, and tapped on the door.

"Hiro?"

P'Li let herself in. She found a young man, with a mix of Earth Nation and Water Tribe features, leaning over a table with four metal boxes, the lids next to them.

"P'Li!" the young man shouted, "don't come any closer!"

P'Li raised an eyebrow, "You told me they were stable."

"I know, but I'd like to be careful. I assume that we're moving?"

"That is correct."

"Okay," Hiro tensed, "stay there, and no bending! Unless you want to die in an explosion."

Hiro reached into the first box, and turned the dial. When nothing happened, he breathed in relief and did the same thing three more times.

"Guess we're committed now."

"We always were," P'Li said, "get those to your mother, and then find your father. We'll be along in a moment."

Hiro nodded, scooped the devices and carefully left.

P'Li went to the second room, and found a young man in a gi, meditating. His head was shaved bald, much like his father's with the exception of a hairknot and despite his calm appearance, P'Li could all but feel the disquiet that came from the young man.

"Yangchen, it's time."

Yangchen opened his eyes, and nodded.

"I'm ready, mother."

P'Li smiled despite herself, "Of course you are, my little firecracker."

Yangchen's nostrils flared. He looked up at his mother from his height of just barely five feet, "I'm not little!"

P'li gently ran her hand over his head, "Of course not. But remember to control yourself out there, Yangchen. We're facing Fire Nation soldiers, not bandits. They'll be disciplined, focused and controlled. You need to be as well."

Yangchen nodded.

"I understand, mother."

"And you'll need to protect your sister," P'Li said, "we all will."

Yangchen rolled his eyes.

"Korra's stronger than all of us. She doesn't need us to protect her."

"She'll need us all now more than ever," P'Li said, "this will be her first step on the global stage."

"Yes mother," Yangchen said, less than convinced.

"Join the others," P'Li said, "we'll be along in a moment."

P'Li knocked at the last door, and found a young member of the Southern Water tribe meditating on the floor, with two bowls resting in front of her.

Fire, water and rock revolved around her body like the earth around the sun. P'Li saw her brow furrow, and the water that revolved around her turn to ice, while the rock became white hot, while lightning crackled in her fist.

"Korra," P'Li said, "it's time."

The young Avatar didn't respond at first. The only sign P'Li could tell that Korra even heard her was how the elements she controlled found their way, gently, into the containers on the floor.

"They have Sifu, don't they?" Korra's voice held only a trace of anxiety.

"That was part of the plan, Korra, yes."

Korra opened her eyes, and stood up.

"I'll make him proud," Korra said.

P'Li smiled, "I know you will, honey."

The two women walked down stairs, and found their fellow Red Lotus members waiting for them in dinner room of the small inn. The owner was a proud member of the Earth Nation, and loathed the Fire Nation with every bone in his body, and he was deeply honored that the Red Lotus, along with the Avatar!, had taken refuge in his small establishment. He stood off to the side, awestruck.

Behind him was a small crowd of Earth Nation men and women, all followers of the Red Lotus. They looked at Korra with sheer awe and worship.

"Are you really the Avatar?" asked one young man.

Korra smiled. She drew a piece of the earth to one hand, and summoned fire in the other. She reached out again with her earth bending, and the rock in her hand became white hot.

"I sure hope so," Korra smiled.

The crowd murmured, and whispered amongst themselves.

"…really her!"

"We could beat the Fire Nation!"

"…restore the Earth Kingdom!"

"…save the world!"

Korra felt a little nervous as the crowd talked amongst themselves. This wasn't her first time convincing people that she was the Avatar, and that she was fighting for Sifu's dream of freedom and nature.

But in the past, that had been with only a handful of Red Lotus members, loyalists who could be trusted beyond all doubt. Never before had she inspired an entire crowd of people like this. But she remembered what her Sifu had taught her, and began.

"I'm here to tell you that the Red Lotus stands with you against the imperial Fire Nation!" Korra declared, and was immediately met with a roar of cheers.

"Alright, simmer down everyone" Ghazan said, "we don't need the Fire Nation knocking before we do. Everyone grab a sign, and lets move out. We'll be along in a sec."

Men and women clamored over one another reaching for the protest signs. The crowd rushed out the door, and soon the Red Lotus found themselves almost completely alone in the Inn.

"Hiro, give your mother the equipment," P'Li said, "I have one last arraignment to take care of."

P'Li made her way back upstairs, and went to the second floor, and walked to a room that was the farthest from the stairs, chosen because it opened to the alley and allowed the occupants the greatest ability to avoid the everyone else in the Inn.

P'Li opened the door without announcement, and in a blink, found the tip of a sword pressed against her throat.

"Be thankful we knew to expect you," said the swordsman, "otherwise we might have killed you."

P'Li slapped the sword away, and stepped inside. The room was empty except for her, the swordsman and his twin brother. The brother was resting haphazardly on the bed, reading a book.

"Someone risked death here," P'Li said, "at any rate, you two need to be ready to move. The Fire Nation will likely trace us back to here after the attack."

"Shiro and I will establish our alibis in a nearby bar," said the Swordsman.

"Just don't get too drunk, Sasuke."

"I never do, Shiro."

"You both understand what is expected of you?" P'Li asked. She found that issue this order was more palpable if she kept to euphemisms than details.

"We do. After the attack, stay in the city, see who's asking questions. If we find our man, take him out."

Zaheer had chosen these men because they were two of the finest Swordsman in the world. P'Li had personally seen them fight off two members of the Hami clan. They were some of the most skilled fighters the Red Lotus had, and P'Li wished that they were fighting beside her today, rather than laying in wait for an ambush, a trap for…

"Good," P'Li said, "if you find your target, end him quickly. See to it that the body is never found, and no one knows his fate. Understood?"

"Understood."

"When you finish, make contact through the usual methods. If you do not, we'll assume that you failed. Fail, and you will die painfully. This is not a threat from me, gentlemen."

"We won't," said Shiro. He closed his book, and stood up, "good luck. We'll get out of her a few minutes after you and the others leave. Don't want them seeing us leave together, eh?"

"Excellent point. Good luck."

P'Li closed the door, and made her way to her friends, her family. She ignored the twist in her gut, the stab of self loathing and disgust that talking to Shiro and Sasuke elicited in her. It was quickly quenched, when she came upon the others, readying the last steps.

"What do you mean they're armed?!" Ming-Hua snapped at Hiro, "is that a joke at my expense? And are you insane?"

"Mom, please," Hiro raised his hands defensively, "it was the only way to ensure that they wouldn't be damaged by the water. We still have two hours!"

"Besides, you don't have to worry about losing an arm, do you?" Ghazan smirked.

He was forced to take a step back when an icicle was produced, inches from his nose.

"You're not funny," Ming-Hua huffed. With her arms made of water, she put a satchel on, and tilted her head to Hiro, "fill 'em up, you little traitor."

"Now, they won't explode for a while, but you have to be careful mom," Hiro placed the bombs in a nanny pouch designed for her, "you don't want to be anywhere near these things when they go off, underwater or not."

"I'll be careful sweetie, I promise," Ming-Hua gave her young son a peck on the cheek, "you be careful too. Listen to your old man, and remember…"

"I know the plan," Hiro said.

"And you!" Ming-Hua leveled an axe made of ice at Ghazan's head, "one scratch on my son, and you'll have to learn how to bend without a limb, too."

"Well, if you could do it…," Ghazan said with a shrug, "and he's our son, remember?"

"You're just some fool I let knock me up," Ming-Hua sniffed, "remember that, you bring my son back with a single scratch."

"That's enough," P'Li said, "Ming-Hua, you have your mission. We have ours. The longer we remain here, the closer to failure we come."

"…did she forget about the live bombs?" Yangchen muttered, glancing aside.

"Fortune favors the prepared," Korra said, "and you've been preparing us for this our entire lives, Ming-Hua. Now isn't the time to start questioning it, not when Sifu's life is in the balance."

"…kid's got a point," Ghazan said, "alright, lets get to it, everyone. Ming-Hua, get going. P'Li, you have thirty minutes to get into place. Kids?"

Ghazan tossed Hiro, Yangchen and Korra green hoods with Earth Nation insignia.

"Lets get to the protest, shall we?"

oooOOooo

_Interrogation _

General Chau saluted the private who guarded the door.

"Corporal Ling, I have an unorthodox set of orders for you," General Chau said.

"Sir?"

"Under no conditions is the prisoner to leave this room. If I am taken hostage, you are to kill me. If anyone who isn't me tries to take him from this room, you are to kill them. Until I leave this room of my own free will, absolutely no one is to enter, regardless of who they are or what they say their orders are."

Corporal Ling did a double take, "Sir, are you serious?"

"Deadly," General Chau said, "that man in there is one of the deadliest people alive. The fact that he cannot bend should be seen as a great blessing. He approached us, because he has a plan. Well, Corporal, I have a plan too. The plan is that man walks out of here in chains, is put before the Firelord to answer for his crimes, and is executed. In that order. The only acceptable alternative is his charred corpse. Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"But don't worry too much, son. I'm not a pushover myself. With luck, my order will be nothing more than an odd story to tell when you go out drinking with your squad," General Chau put a hand on the man's shoulder, "I understand he was restrained without issue?"

"That's correct, sir. We searched him for concealed weapons and found nothing."

"Good," General Chau said, though the lack of weapons only made him worry more. What game was Zaheer playing?

The General opened the door, and saw Zaheer in the middle of the room, eyes closed as he meditated. He was bound to a wooden chair, arms tied in heavy knots. The room had a single window facing the street, and the falling sun seemed to give Zaheer an eerie glow.

"Into the abyss."

When General Chau closed the door, Zaheer's eye's snapped open.

"General."

"Terrorist."

"Freedom fighter, imperialist," Zaheer said, "these are just words, labels and have no true meaning in nature. Though I'll be honest, I feared you might have just ignored me."

"I had to dress properly," said the General, "were I you, I wouldn't hide behind nature. Nature isn't my concern. The safety of the people, is."

"Balance, and nature, is the concern of everyone," Zaheer said, "without if, you cannot have true freedom."

"Is that what you think your people have brought the world?" Chau snapped, "our world has never been worse! Half of the people fighting under your banner do it because they grew up doing it! They're not fighting for balance, they're fighting because it's all they know!"

"The natural order of nature, is disorder," Zaheer said, "you may as well complain about the light of the sun."

"Is that how you justify murdering a child?"

Zaheer's lip twitched.

"I did not murder the Avatar," Zaheer growled.

"Is there honor in nature?" Chau demanded, "because we already know the Avatar is in Republic City!"

"I could never hurt the Avatar," Zaheer said, "in fact, she's is my greatest disciple."

Chau felt the earth move, and the blood drained from his face.

oooOOoo

Korra tensed as they approached the fort. The crowd that had been in the Inn had grown by at least two dozen people. Fire Nation guards watched the crowd with a careful eye.

"Okay kids, mix it up some," Ghazan ordered, "we don't go until we get Ming's signal."

Hiro and Yangchen nodded, and walked to opposite ends of the protest. Korra was about to follow her younger brother, when Ghazan gently grabbed her wrist.

"Hold up, kid," Ghazan said, "we'll be ready to start soon. You need your game face."

Korra looked at Ghazan, half pleading, half pouting.

"Do I have to? It's not easy to do, and hurts like hell!"

"I know kid, and I'm sorry. But we can't risk these fire eaters snapping a picture of your real face and spreading it across every nation. Not yet, anyways."

"But it feels like fire-mites eating my skull!" Korra protested, "can't I just use a mask?"

"Sorry kid, these are orders."

"But…"

"Zaheer's orders."

"Okay," Korra sighed, and muttered under her breath,"…no other Avatar had to hide their face."

"Ain't no other Avatar like you, Korra. Be proud of that."

"Hard to do when I have to hide my face…" Korra said, "Ghazan, be honest with me. Sifu…he isn't mad at me, is he?"

Ghazan did a double take.

"Why would he?" Ghazan said.

"You know why!" Korra hissed, careful of prying eyes and ears.

"Kid, he knows you've done your best," Ghazan said, "and you bend the hell out of the other three. We'll fix whatever's messing up your air bending, just you watch. And if we don't, he'll still be proud of you."

"Thank you," Korra hugged Ghazan, "sorry to be cracking up at a time like this. The greatest pressure makes the greatest diamonds, Sifu says, but I'm still nervous."

"Nothing wrong with that, kid," Ghazan said, "now lets show those ash heads what's what. Ready?"

Korra took a deep breath and buried her face in Ghazan's chest.

"Ready."

Korra reached into her water bending, and spread her chi across her skull. Taking control of the water inside her muscles, she lifted the muscles in her cheekbones, pushed her hairline back, and made a few other nips and tucks. The changes were small, delicate, but when Korra was done, no one who knew her prior face would recognized this one.

Korra leaned into Ghazan, and for a moment she threatened to pass out.

"Your girlfriend is insane," Korra said, "that's the only way she could have thought of something like this, let alone try it."

"Hey, that's the mother of my son you're talking about," Ghazan said, with mock offense.

"I'm sorry," Korra said, "the mother of your son? She's insane."

"Better," Ghazan chuckled.

ooOOoo

Ming-Hua stepped into a small alleyway, just off the docks, and looked around.

When she saw that she was unobserved, she willed the water to her side, and took the bombs in one 'hand', and leapt into the water.

The water-bender streaked through the water like an eel-shark, and even though she was completely submerged, her control over the water around her was so precise that her face wasn't even damp in the air bubble she'd created for herself.

Ming-Hua found the Fire Nation ships with little trouble. They were the largest boats in the bay, by far. No one from this Earth Nation town could afford anything close.

She took one bomb, affixed one to the hull, and repeated the process until she was out of bombs.

Ming-Hua thought about the destruction and chaos that was waiting to be unleashed, and smiled.

ooOOoo

When the General Chau went to the window, he breathed a sigh of relief at what he saw. Where he expected to see a team of Red Lotus members savagely attacking, he saw only protesters. He was a little suspicious of the timing, but it wasn't the disaster he had instinctively come to expect either. A little earth quake was expected when dealing with Earth Nation protestors, after all.

"General?" Zaheer said, still bound in his chair. The General was tempted to replace the wood and ropes with steel, but he didn't want to lose time, "something the matter?"

"Just another protest," the General studied Zaheer for a response.

"Business as usual for the Fire Nation, then."

The General sighed, "Now, yes. Though, during the one hundred year war? I would have gotten a medal for burning every one of them to ash. Aren't you lucky that we're living in more civilized times?"

"I think my position on the time is clear," Zaheer said, "though how different is it truly up for debate. The Fire Nation marches all over the Earth Nation, as you force your definition of society down the throat of anyone who dares resist, and call it self-defense. The only difference now is that you're cheered on by the Water Tribes and United Republic."

"I call it dealing with enemies of the Fire Nation," General Chau said, "because of you, there is no more Earth Nation. Just warlords and Dai Li agents who are at each other's throats!"

"Violence and disorder are naturally linked," Zaheer said, "for what it's worth, I take no pleasure in it. But blood is the price of any revolution."

The General gritted his teeth, "That's an easy thing to say, when it's someone else's blood."

"It's never easy, no matter whose blood it is."

"So, you say that the Avatar follows you," General Chau said, "did she follow you against Vaatu? I don't suppose you would care to debrief me on what exactly happened in the Spirit World?"

"Vaatu sought to unleash a new age of darkness on our world. We stopped him," Zaheer said, and it was technically true.

General Chau steepled his hands, and then smirked.

"'You say much when you say nothing at all'" said General Chau, "my father taught me that. The spirits have shunned all but a select few, the portal to their world is damaged, and yet you tell me only that which makes you and yours look the hero."

"Be warned, Zaheer, the truth will come out."

"A journey is not defined by a single misstep," said Zaheer

"As my mother would say, it's the destination, not the journey," General Chau said, "but tell me about the journey. How did you come across Vaatu, just in time to save the world?"

oooOOoo

_Later_

"Ash-eater, go home! Ash-eater, go home!"

"I may go home if I gotta keep listening to this," Ghazan whispered to Korra.

The young Avatar smiled. Ghazan's jokes were usually pretty bad, but they always helped ease the tension. Of all her teachers, Ghazan was by far the most relaxed, to the point that Korra wondered how he ever mastered earth bending at all.

Korra was about to reply with a smart remark, when she heard an explosion in the distance.

In the bay outside the fortress, four troop carries rolled and tipped in the water, as the water rushed to fill the new holes in their hulls.

"Time to show them what you're made of, kid," Ghazan said, "you'll do great."

"Okay," Korra took a steadying breath, and then summoned a pillar of earth to raise her into the air.

"Fire Nation soldiers!" Korra roared, and she had everyone's attention, "your oppression of the Earth Kingdom has come to an end! Today is the day the Avatar will restore balance to this city!"

"Oh spirits," said one Fire Nation soldier, who was unlucky enough to be manning the Fort's wall, "this won't end well."

oooOOoo

General Chau looked out the window in horror.

"The Avatar…"

"Indeed," Zaheer smiled. He slammed his foot on the ground, and he was pitched through the air. He smashed into the ceiling, chair first, and it became nothing but splinters.

Intellectually, General Chau knew he had just seen Zaheer airbend. But emotionally, he was floored. There were only a handful of air benders remaining in the entire world, and Zaheer wasn't one of them! He couldn't be!

His shock lasted long enough for Zaheer to hit him with a burst of wind, strong enough to lift the General from his feet, and slam him into the far wall.

"What you see before you General, is proof that my cause is righteous," Zaheer said, "through my fears and doubts, nature has vindicated the Red Lotus."

"You're just a lucky madman," General Chau said dismissively. He forced the pain down, and he quickly realized the genius simplicity of Zaheer's plan. While Zaheer occupied him, his men were left without his direction as they faced the most dangerous benders in the world.

Including the Avatar.

"Believe whatever gives you comfort in your last moments," Zaheer sent a blade of near solid air at the General's head, but the man didn't flinch.

Instead, he sent a powerful burst of flame into the middle of the attack, dispelling it harmlessly.

"I may have overstated your luck," said General Chau, "you see, while I am ashamed of my nation's actions during the hundred year war, I made a point of studying them. I learned many terrible things, among them the best methods for combating air benders."

Zaheer's lip twisted in disgust.

"I can face the sins of my people, of my cause. Can you?"

oooOOoo

"Alpha team, get the Avatar's attention!" Commander Qin Shi ordered, "Gamma, Beta, get out there and try to bring her down, north and south!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Commander Qin Shi issued a few more orders, and then went to join Alpha team on the wall.

Alpha Team was made up of experienced fire benders. The General created the unit himself, and hand-picked eight men, some from Noble houses, some not but all experienced veterans, men and women who knew how to contain their reactions no matter the situation.

So none of them balked at seeing the Avatar outside their doorstep, attempting to do Spirits only knew.

Instead, the designated First Fire summoned her flame while her partner readied the follow up, intending to burn the Avatar alive if the First Fire missed, and down the line it went.

But before she could cast a spark, the wall just to the left of her exploded in a hail of shrapnel. The First Flame went down, her face a merss of blood, and her squad-mates ducked as something seemed to slam against the walls.

"There's a combustion bender out there!" said one man.

Just as the man said that, the wall shook, and the air filled with a sound much akin to air. The Fire Nation soldiers realized that the protesters were pelting Fort Iroh, fighting alongside the Avatar.

"Sir, we can't get a clear shot, and Tsumi needs a medic!"

"Just hang in there," Shi ordered, "if nothing else, we have to draw fire for Gamma and Beta!"

oooOOoo

Hiro stood towards the back of the protest, where the people who were still uncertain of what to do lingered.

He saw the six man team approaching Korra's left, and acted fast.

He willed four walls around the entire team, and almost instantly could feel the bolts of lightning slamming against it. The soldiers would be free of their cage in a few seconds, but with Hiro that wouldn't be soon enough.

Hiro reached out again with his bending, and the ground underneath the soldiers became molten hot. Hiro sealed the top so that he wouldn't have to listen to the screams, and then took his place in front of Korra.

"Ready when you are!" Hiro shouted. Korra returned his words with a nod, and she was too high in the air for him to see her frown.

oooOOoo

Yangchen met his squad head on.

He centered himself, and drew the lightning to his hands. He'd done it so many times before, it was little more than muscle memory now.

Six men came at him, and Yangchen smiled.

The first man sent a fireball at his head, and Yangchen dodged it effortlessly, and brought the man down with one electric punch to his kidney.

The second man was too close to use his bending without endangering the first, and fell with an electric chop to the neck.

The third man drew back his fist, but Yangchen turned at the perfect moment, and all but rolled around him. The young Firebender put his left hand against the third man's spine, his hand still sparking with power while his right hand delivered an electric uppercut to the fourth.

Yangchen sent a surge of flame shooting from his heels, and he leapt over the last two soldiers, grabbing the heads of both as he went.

Lightning still simmering in his hands, he grabbed a handful of their hair and pulled them back as he returned to earth. Yangchen swung them both to the ground dismissively as he landed, and when he was certain they were no longer a threat, he looked to where he knew his mother was stationed.

"You are safe," Yangchen said to Korra.

"Thanks, little sis," Korra winked.

"Stop calling me that!" Yangchen huffed.

"Kids," Ghazan said, "we need to get to work. Hiro, go left, I'll take right. Korra, press down and out!"

Hiro and Ghazan ran the length of the wall, their bending following close behind. They created a moat of molten magma, and surrounded the fort to where it touched the bay.

When that was complete, Korra reached out with her earth bending, and created a wall of magma in the earth at a ninety degree angle. Sweat dripped from her brow, and Korra could barely hear the explosions created by P'Li covering her. Creating so much magma, unseen, made Korra feel as if she were pushing against the world itself, but she swore she wouldn't fail.

She'd make Sifu proud.

Korra didn't hear the shouts of the crowd as they hooted and hollered for her. She didn't hear the soldiers scrambling to think of a plan. She allowed nothing to break her focus.

And just when she reached the end of her endurance, just when she thought she'd failed, Korra watched as the entire fort slumped backwards.

"Oh no," Commander Qin Shi looked towards the far end of the fort, and watched in shock as the water seemed to rise, lapping over the docks.

Or rather, he knew, the fort itself was beginning to fall, sliding into the water like a melting iceberg.

"Everyone off the wall!" the Commander ordered, "we have to evacuate, now!"

ooOOoo

P'Li watched Fort Iroh fall in the distance, the walls slinking away in the horizon like a whipped dog. The combustion bender held no special love for her countrymen, but she was far from indifferent to the Fort's fate.

Because as it sank, she couldn't help but worry about Zaheer. Had he escaped as he said he would, or had his luck run out?

ooOOoo

Zaheer's head snapped to the side as General Chau's fist smashed across his mouth.

Zaheer head-butted the General, and rabbit punched him in the gut, with a burst of wind to send him reeling back.

"You won't defeat me in hand to hand combat," Zaheer said, his tone even, "I was an assassin for out of control benders, before I became one myself."

"I won't let you leave here alive," The General said. Both men could feel the fort shifting, but neither dared turn away from the other, not yet.

"You can't stop me," Zaheer replied.

"I can try."

Zaheer watched in confusion as the General's hands, alit with flame, swept across his chest. The newly born air-bender remembered feeling something there as they fought, and acting purely on instinct, he turned and ran to the window. A gust of wind blasted the glass aside, and Zaheer's leap was boosted by his air-bending, as the room behind him exploded in an orange ball of fire.

The force carried him through the air, but Zaheer twisted in midair, and landed gracefully on the roof of the shop across the street.

"…dress properly indeed," Zaheer brushed himself off.

"Sifu!"

Korra leapt from her perch, and all but tackled Zaheer in a bear-hug.

"I was so worried!"

"I told you, destiny has a plan for us," Zaheer said, "everything went according to plan?"

"Yes, Sifu," Korra said, "your plan was flawless."

"Fortune favors the prepared," said Zaheer. He turned his thoughts to what the General had said, about a new Avatar in Republic City, and, unwillingly, turned his mind to Vaatu as well, "and fortune has smiled on us today."

"Then, are we done?" Korra asked.

"Done?"

Zaheer turned his gaze towards Korra, and past her, the Fire Nation fort, as it sank into the bay. By now, dozens of earth benders had crowded into the street, and were 'assisting' in helping the fort along its way into a watery grave, while in the bay the Fire Nation ships limped their way to a watery grave.

"Korra, we've only just started."

End Act 2 Part 2 


	9. Act 2 Part 3

Lin Beifong, for a brief moment, entertained the notion that the universe hated her.

There were no shortage of reasons to believe that, large and small. The police force that she had sacrificed and worked so hard for was changing in ways beyond Lin's control, even though she was supposed to be the chief of police. In less than a span of two weeks, seemingly two Avatars had shown up, one a murderer and the other a terrorist. The Triple Threat Triad worming their way deeper and deeper into the veins of Republic City. A mountain of paperwork that never seemed to end. Dinner with Tenzin's family tonight.

Lin attacked the only enemy she could hope to defeat, the hundreds of forms that littered her office. Lin knew growing up that police work was about as much paperwork as street work, but she still found herself surprised how much there was. More than once Lin had been tempted to fake blindness like her mother, just to get out of it.

But Lin knew better. And at least paperwork was something she could actually do something about. And without any council meetings or training scheduled, Lin knew that escape was impossible anyways.

She went through paper after paper. After action reports, vacation requests, and the other various, mundane things that came with dealing with the security and police force of an entire city. The only thing that broke the tedium was a report about an air-bending vandal going around the city, the second report in as many days. The report was a quick after action report, bare bones and likely filed by the officer on the way out the door. Lin knew that if she wanted the full report, she'd have to wait a day or two.

"Ikki or Meelo?" Lin muttered aloud. Those were really only two suspects in Lin's book. The drawback of being the last air-benders, as Tenzin himself discovered once or twice. Lin made a mental note to have a talk with the Airhead tonight about it, and went back to the drivel.

Lin didn't bother to track how much time had passed, as a general rule. Her officers always offered to bring her lunch (but damned if she let them pay), so it wasn't until she heard a knock on the door that she brought her head-up, caught a glance at the clock, and scowled.

"Chief?"

Lin looked towards the doorway, and saw Junior Detective Mako standing there in his patrol uniform. She also saw how the officers outside were shooting him a sideways glance.

"Did I come at a bad time?"

"Any time with paperwork is a bad time," Lin forced an easy smile to cross her lips, "but I don't have to tell you that, do I? Come in, and close the door."

Mako did as ordered, and stood at attention, which Lin saw as a common nervous tick for rookie officers. Uncertain of what to do, they clung to protocol like a lifejacket.

"At ease," Lin smiled, "I assume you're here about the investigation?"

"Yes ma'am," Mako rubbed the back of his neck, "Old Man Mako was a friend, and I want his killer brought to justice, but…"

Mako struggled to find the words.

"I know what I saw," said Mako, "I don't know if it was the Avatar or not, but they had control over earth, water and fire, and whoever it was, they were male. Beyond that…"

Mako shrugged helplessly.

"I've read your report, and was there when you testified to the council," Lin said, "do you have anything more to add?"

"No ma'am, it's just…"

"You want to know where you stand," Lin said.

"That's…about it, chief. I know if shouldn't matter, but everyone's looking at me sideways, especially after what happened at Fort Iroh," Mako said, "but I'm not making up what I saw!"

"Well, you have gone out of bounds before, rookie," Lin emphasized 'rookie' and looked at Mako with a raised eyebrow, "beat cops don't investigate random crimes, like thefts at the Sato mansion."

Mako remained silent, because the chief had him dead to rights. He had worked the investigation, on his own time, because he thought it might have been connected to the death of his own parent's. And when he made a breakthrough, Mako made a point to alert a detective, but…

But the Satos were a powerful family, and they insisted on knowing all the details. Soon, Mako found himself in the spotlight, and on a runaway train to promotion.

That, unfortunately, didn't earn him many friends inside the department, who after spending years on the force, watched as a young rookie was promoted for solving all of one crime. Lin herself wondered if she would have resented Mako, if she weren't already at the top.

She certainly wasn't fond of being forced to promote him, after all.

And to Mako's credit, he was well aware of his shortcomings. He looked for advice, read past case files and still volunteered for uniform patrol in his spare time, something almost every officer ran from. And on top of all that, he was shaping up to be her greatest weapon against the Triple Threat Triad.

Lin could tell that Mako had the makings to be a great cop. That was why she made a point to keep him humble.

"…but I know that isn't the case here," Lin said. There was keeping someone humble, and then there was twisting the knife, "I've had people look at the crime scene, and they confirmed only three people were there. The Council believes your testimony, as do I."

"Thank you, chief."

"Don't thank me, you've earned it," Lin said, "and as to your question, what happens next? I honestly don't know. The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, Detective. You've got to learn to learn that, otherwise you'll worry yourself into an early grave for nothing."

Mako nodded, "Yes, ma'am. Sorry to waste your time."

"Actually, you've come at the right time," Lin stood up, and found herself thankful that her armor covered the protest of her body. No amount of time changed the fact that she wasn't built for paperwork, "I had plans for tonight. Have you seen Gemma recently?"

"I think I saw her heading down to the gym," Mako said.

"General, or…?"

"The Rumble Gym," Mako said.

Lin scowled. That was the last place she wanted to find Gemma on the best of days, let alone now.

"Thank you, Detective. I'll see you tomorrow."

Lin made her way to the elevator, and made her way down into the bowels of her department.

Even early on in the construction of Republic City, space was at a premium. But police needed a place to train, and earth benders, to say nothing of metal benders, required more space than most.

So, with the help of the Avatar and several dozen earth benders, including Toph, a special cave was constructed beneath police headquarters. Her mother compared the size to 'Three Earth Rumbles' arenas, and Lin always admired how spacious it was. When the elevator finally stopped, a full three stories beneath the ground, Lin stepped out into a cavern that could have held a city block, easily.

The gym was built to hold almost the entire metal bending force, and a good portion of them were here now, but only five were actually training, from what Lin could see. The rest were all clustered around a smaller gym built for matches, watching like spectators.

Lin hovered towards the back, and willed the metal away from her foot. She didn't need to be in the front row to see everything. She closed her eyes, and listened as Gemma went about her 'lesson'.

"…remember that our bending isn't any different from anyone else, except the element we use," Gemma said. Lin could feel the rapid heartbeat of four students around Gemma, and frowned.

Gemma had found another student. Lin was less than pleased.

"More than that, we should remember that our bending is still bound by the very planet we pull it from," Gemma continued.

Lin could sense that the younger Beifong wasn't wearing her standard issue armor. Instead, she was wearing tank-top, sweatpants, an old metal bending belt with a tonfa resting in a loop across from the metal wire. Her hands were taped, like a street fighter, and her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Lin, out of personal concern, studied Gemma's forehead as best she could for a moment, and saw that the scar that she knew to be there had faded into almost complete invisibility.

"Most importantly," Gemma said, "everyone here should remember that you can still do things right, the wrong way."

"Lee, care to demonstrate standard shield technique?" Gemma said, "I'd like to mix up the defense and offense lesson."

Lin could feel the pulse of Lee quicken. The man had been in his fair share of battles, and had been on the police force a decade before Gemma served a day, but the thought of being Gemma's test subject still unsettled the man.

Lee raised a wall of earth, while Gemma raised two circular columns behind her. Lee made a point to take a few deep breathes, to prepare himself for what came next.

"The first instinct we need to overcome as earth benders, is the need to be so blunt," Gemma said, "when we can't use our cables, we use the earth. But we limit ourselves because the earth we throw is square and rough. It's not aerodynamic at all, and it makes us slower because of it. Lee, ready?"

"Ready."

Gemma sent two disks flying into Lee's shield. They were twice the size of dinner-plates, much like what they used in pro-bending but they struck like cannon-balls. In two moves, Lin could sense Lee's shield had been functionally destroyed. A first year water-bender could have knocked it over.

"See, what happened is that Lee's shield took the full force of my attack," Gemma explained, "and I was able to throw them much faster than he was used to dealing with."

_And your attacks were precise_, Lin thought to herself. Lin wondered if anyone other than herself saw how both discs struck the same spot, only a split second apart.

"Now, watch what happens when you construct a shield differently," Gemma raised two walls of earth, only it was shaped like a plough, and was angled towards the ceiling, "Lee, Jet, Young? Ready when you are."

Despite how many times she'd seen it before, Lin's pulse quickened as the trio unleashed a barrage of rocks at Gemma. The younger Beifong never flinched, and reacted with a steel like calm.

She shifted her shield into the attacks, and rock after rock skidded off her earth shield. It took the three senior metal bending officers a barrage that seemed to amount to half a mountain before it finally cracked.

Gemma motioned for them to cease, and Lin watched them stop on a dime. A part of her smiled at the discipline that Gemma had instilled on her students. She was a Beifong to the bone, and a master in an arena where she'd once been a student.

"In addition, we need to change the way we look use our earth bending. We should look at other benders. Look at air benders…"

Lin rubbed her forehead. That Airhead was a bad influence on two generations of Beifongs now, and he probably didn't even know it.

"…they can extend their air bending along the path of their gliders. And like Firebenders, they can bend through any orifice," Gemma coughed, "trust me on that. We all know the war hammer technique that was used during the 100 year war, for weaker earth benders. And of course, we all know about the water bending terrorist Ming-Hua, who was born without arms."

Gemma unslung the metal tonfa on her belt, and held it against her left wrist.

"There's no reason we as earth benders should limit ourselves to just our fists and feet when controlling our elements," Gemma motioned to Chow Young, "three shots, please."

"Hai."

Three boulders the size of watermelons flew at Gemma's head. She swung her tonfa and smashed the first as if it were made of glass. The second one Gemma willed the wire on her belt to fire, and the thin metal exploded the boulder as if it were a balloon. But the third…

Despite no matter how many times Lin had seen this trick, it always made her stomach flip. How did such a soft spoken girl think of such a thing?

Gemma tipped her head back, and then threw her head forward just as the rock was about to hit her skull. The third rock exploded in a hail of dirt and rubble, and the room fell silent.

"Fist and feet are not our only tools, as the late King Bumi of Omashu demonstrated," Gemma said, to her awestruck audience, "but all these things are easy to say, but hard to do in the heat of battle. But I'll demonstrate why you should learn."

Gemma was surrounded by four metal bending officers. She only had a steel tonfa, carried in her left hand and an old issue metal cable as weapons.

And yet Lin, no matter how much she loved Gemma, felt the worry she felt for the safety of her officers outweigh the worry she felt for Gemma.

Because, even combined, those officers weren't half as deadly as her.

"Begin."

Lee came at Gemma first, his metal wires shooting out.

Gemma reached out with her bending, and redirected the wires into the ground in front of her.

She took a step towards Lee, and the ground underneath her feet jutted out, launching Gemma through the air.

Gemma tucked her knees in and came down a foot in front of Lee, slamming down on his wires and pulling him to his knees.

Gemma swung her tonfa, Lee squeezed his eyes shut…and Gemma tapped his helmet.

"One."

Gemma rolled backwards, followed closely by a barrage of rocks. She sprang to her feet, caught a rock as it spun by, and spun almost 360 degrees, and sent it flying back at the man who'd sent it. Jet grunted as it slammed against his armor.

"Redirection isn't something limited to water benders, or air benders," Gemma said, "two."

Lin rolled her eyes. Tenzin, _again_.

"But there is one thing that is unique to earth benders," Gemma said. She made a point of turning her back to Chow Young, as the middle aged officer sent rock after rock flying at her.

Gemma tilted her head and danced out of the way without ever looking at Chow Young for a full twelve seconds, before she stomped her foot, and a pillar of earth shot out of the ground in front of Chow Young, slamming him back into the wall of the training ring.

"We don't have to look at our enemies to beat them," Gemma said, "three."

Gemma turned to Saikhan, Jr. with a wolfish grin.

"Last lesson," Gemma said.

Saikhan brought a wall of earth up, just as the world around him seemed to explode in a meteor storm. Gemma cast dozens upon dozens of tiny rocks at him, some no larger than an apple, but the speeds were absolutely blinding. All Saikhan could think to do was raise a shield and wait for an opening.

But he was already too late. Gemma willed the cable on her hip out, and it sank into Saikhan's shield. He realized that he couldn't sense his earth shield a split second before it divided in two, and Gemma was standing oh so close.

"Nuts."

The rock that struck his chest didn't sting as much as his pride, but it was close.

"Like airbenders use their gliders to extend and strengthen their bending, we can use metal to do the same to ours," Gemma finished, "class dismissed."

The room filled with a respectful clap, until someone cleared their throat, and suddenly Lin could feel the attention of everyone fall upon her. The crowd quickly dispelled, avoiding eye contact with their chief and each other, like teenagers caught by their parents doing something they knew was taboo.

Lin strolled down to the training arena, and sent a small ripple through her bending, towards Gemma.

Gemma sensed it immediately. Ever since she'd been assigned to the police force, Lin had made a point that they were to address each other professionally. Though everyone knew of their relationship, they both felt that it would undermine Lin's authority if Gemma ever addressed her in public as anything other than chief or ma'am (which Gemma did long before anyways).

But they still needed a way to communicate in private, about family matters. So they'd long since worked out a code, known only to them.

When Gemma sensed the word 'dinner plans', she immediately realized she'd forgotten all about how Tenzin had insisted on a family dinner tonight.

"I got to go!" Gemma said to her students, and raced out of the arena.

"Saikhan?" said Lin, "a word in private, please?"

"Not bad, kid," Jet said as he slapped the rookie on the shoulder, "you didn't cry. Just be thankful that she didn't use the flower bed on you."

Gemma's three other students scuffled out, and left the arena. Saikhan stood nervously at attention.

Lin let him stew in silence for a moment.

"Chief?" he finally said.

"I gather that you're interested in taking lessons from Gemma?" Lin asked.

"That's correct," Saikhan said, "I'm trying to be a better officer. I won't let this department down like…"

"Stop," Lin snapped, "your father was a fine officer. I came up with him in the ranks. And while he didn't deserve to be promoted over me, he still served this city well. The problem with your father? He's a number two. And when he was at the top, he allowed the Council to push him around until they broke him. That doesn't undo all the good he did for this city. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And I never judge children by their parents," Lin said, "that's a kind of stupid I don't even have a name for. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I trust that the others explained what'll happen if you take Gemma's training?"

"Yes ma'am."

"They did?" Lin raised an eyebrow, "then explain it to me."

"There'll be a note in my file, for every annual combat re-evaluation. The proctors will be instructed to watch for fine tune control and reaction. For every year of my career, I'll be held to a higher standard than my fellow officers."

Lin nodded, "Exactly. Can you tell me why?"

Saikhan opened his mouth to speak, but no words came.

"That earth shield technique she used just now?" Lin said, "imagine you're in a busy street, and you deflect an attack away from you. What's to keep it from hitting civilians?"

"I…hadn't thought of that, sir."

"And learning to throw rocks faster?" Lin said, "we already risk doing massive damage to a perp if we're forced to use anything other than our cables. Gemma's method of attack increases that drastically. And what happens if you miss? Gemma's tactics are meant for a target rich environment, not a city."

Saikhan chew his lower lip, and Lin could see that her words had the desired effect.

"Being an officer isn't just about strength," said Lin, "it's about protecting people. Helping them on the worst day of their lives, every day of ours. Being strong, being tough, it's a means to an end. Not an end in itself."

"I know that," Saikhan said, "I just didn't think…"

Lin placed a reassuring hand on Saikhan's shoulder.

"Take a few days, and think it over. No one will think any less of if you don't take Gemma's classes, there is a reason why she has so few students," said Lin, "and if you do, there's no going back."

oooOOoo

If there was one advantage to being wealthy that Lin felt no shame in enjoying, it was the fact that she could own a private boat and dock in Republic City without a second thought to the cost.

In the past, Lin enjoyed it because it meant she could visit Air Temple Island whenever the mood suited her. It wasn't as if her extended family on the island didn't enjoy the surprise of finding her pulling up to the docks.

She enjoyed it now because it gave her and Gemma a degree of privacy. Lin could almost feel Gemma's mood deflate in the drive from the department to the docks. Gemma was completely silent as Lin unmoored the boat, and started the engine.

It wasn't until they pulled away, that Gemma finally spoke.

"When will the investigation be finished?" Gemma said softly, barely audible over the hum of the engine.

Lin didn't have to ask what investigation Gemma was referring to. The 'Night of Vaatu', as the papers called it, they'd been ambushed when responding to a report of a robbery. In defending herself, Gemma had killed every last attacker, and per procedure in an officer involved death, Gemma was stuck on desk duty until a proper investigation was conducted.

At least, in theory.

"…there won't be one," Lin said.

"What?!" Gemma snapped, "but I didn't do anything wrong!"

Lin wished she could feel pride in Gemma's reaction. She wanted to be vindicated, not have her actions be swept under the rug as if they were some dirty little secret. But right now, that desire was acting as a poison, because it was being swept under the rug, just like a dirty little secret, "I never said you did…"

"You said it wasn't an ambush and you were wrong!" Gemma snapped, "all I did was defend myself like I was trained to do!"

"Gemma, I know, I was there," Lin kept her voice steady. The last thing she wanted was to give Gemma more ammunition for her self-loathing, "the review board feels that the situation was self defense. No one's saying you did anything wrong!"

"You don't say it, but I know how you went behind my back today!" Gemma spat, "I'm good at one thing, one thing, and you're ashamed of me because of it!"

Lin killed the engine, and allowed the boat to come to a stop.

She turned around, and knelt down in front of Gemma on one knee. She took at the young Beifong, her eyes wet with tears, and took Gemma's hand and placed it over her heart.

"Listen…"

Lin gave Gemma a moment to bring her bending to bear.

"I am not and never have been ashamed of you," Lin said, "I love you. I'm proud of you, and the issues I have with you on my police force have nothing to do with you personally. I'd rather have a dead perp than a dead cop any day."

Lin wiped a tear from Gemma's face.

"No one in our family is ashamed of you because of the burden you carry for Republic City."

Gemma trembled, but nodded.

"I know you did this to make me proud, and I am," Lin said, "it's the Council who's to blame, not you. And I didn't go behind your back. I told you I'd have a private talk with every one of your students, didn't I?"

Gemma nodded half heartily, before she removed her hand. Lin hoped it was enough to dispel Gemma's dark mood, but she didn't hold much faith there. This wasn't their first conversation on the matter.

Lin restarted the engine.

"And it's not the only thing you're good at," Lin said, "you're nearly the only one I know who can make those meatless meals the Air Temple serves worthwhile. Are you going to help Pema with the cooking?"

"…no," Gemma said softly.

"Well, how are you going to ever open a restaurant without practice?" said Lin.

Gemma's eyes drifted towards the bay, "That's not something I worry about."

Lin remained silent as they pulled up to the dock. It wasn't that she was about to give up on raising Gemma's spirits, it was that she saw someone who was far more gifted at it than her waiting for them.

"I'll be! It's the beautiful Beifongs! Welcome to Air Temple Island!"

"Uncle Bumi!" Gemma shouted.

Commander Bumi held the mooring rope in one hand, and a cocky grin on his face, "Lin, you staying, or just keeping up the Beifong tradition of dumping family on the Air Temple?"

"That joke wasn't funny when Tenzin first said it," Lin said, "and it's not funny now. Give me the damn rope."

Gemma scampered into the dock as Lin secured the boat, and all but leapt into a bear-hug from Bumi.

"How's my little diamond doing?" asked Bumi.

"I'm doing good," Gemma said, and she meant it, if only for a moment, "it's good to see you."

"I heard about your unit, I'm so sorry, kid. You're not doing anything stupid like blaming yourself for being alive, are you?" Bumi said softly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lin spending too much attention on the knot for the boat.

"No sir," Gemma said softly, though Bumi could tell his words cut her to the quick.

"Good," Bumi said, "always remember that they'd want us to carry on for them, in their memory."

"So," Lin stepped onto the deck. She looked up Bumi and down, baffled as to why he was wearing the traditional robes of the air nomads, and not his United Forces uniform, "why're you here, Bumi? I thought you were on patrol around the Fire Nation. And why are you wearing Tenzin's clothes?"

"That's Special Task Commander Bumi to you!" Bumi rubbed his hands together, and cackled, "as to why I'm dressed like this, well…"

"It's still just Bumi," Lin deadpanned, "I'm a cop, not a soldier, Bumi."

"Hey, Gemma," Bumi was cackling like some over the top villain, "want to see me put a really stupid look on your commanding officer's face?"

Gemma looked away, a guilty smile on her face.

"Bumi, if this is anything like the lemur incident, I will kill you. Slowly. Inch by inch. Never again…"

Bumi swept his hands out, and an impossibly fast wind sped past Lin's face.

"Oh man!" Bumi almost doubled over laughing, "Gemma, did you see that? The look on her face…!"

Bumi cast his eyes towards Gemma.

"Oh…sorry, seems like I got some on you too."

End chapter.

So at this time, I've got 13 favorites for this story, and 21 follows for this story. If anyone wants to tell me why, it'd be appreciated! ;)


	10. Act 2 Part 4

Chaos Theory 10

Mako opened his locker, and wasn't much surprised to find a crudely painted, yellow, metal bent crown in his locker. On it was a note that read 'Fire Princess'.

"Hilarious," Mako said as he tossed it into the waste bin. He drew more than a few eyes, some soft chuckles, but he'd be damned if he was going to comment further. He was an adult, and after everything he'd been through, he wasn't about to let some cheap barbs get under his skin.

Today was uniform patrol, and he dressed quickly. He knew that as a detective that more than a few questioned why he was still wearing a uniform and doing foot patrol, but he hoped that they understood that it was simply him paying his dues. Mako knew he'd jumped to the head of the line, but in his heart he was still a cop.

The only downside of taking extra shifts, Mako found, was that it was impossible to find a regular partner. So instead, he, along with a few other officers who shared irregular hours for whatever reason (usually family) were simply expected to go to the motor pool and wait for someone else to show up.

Sometimes it took as little as five minutes. Other times it took over an hour.

Today, all it took was Mako walking into the motor pool. He found Officer Lee, metal bender, leaning against the wall, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Dragon's breath," Mako muttered. Mako half considered simply walking away, taking an extended bathroom break and hope the man and his hideous bowl-cut were gone.

But only half. And saddling another officer with Lee wasn't something Mako was comfortable doing.

"Lee!" Mako shouted as he entered the motor pool, "grab a Sato-mobile, I'll grab us a map."

"Hey, Mako!" Lee shouted, "good to see you! How've you been? Have you seen your brother's latest play? It's amazing!"

"Lee," Mako said, "Sato-mobile?"

"Oh, right," Lee nodded, and went to grab their transport.

Mako went to dispatch, and scanned the table that held the maps for the patrol routes. Where there were usually dozen maps of the city, there were only a handful now. Mako picked one that looked like it would be the least amount of trouble, and then made his way down the hall.

"This is dispatch, we need a car at fourth and Yue. Possible break-in."

"Patrol Unit 7, please head to fifth and Yang. Domestic dispute in progress, be advised that both subjects are benders."

"Car 54, where are you?"

Mako found the Dispatch Director, Korra Yue. It wasn't her birth name, but after the kidnapping of the Avatar, countless families in the Water Tribe had renamed their daughters after the Avatar in a show of solidarity. Mako wondered if any of them intended change it back now that the Avatar (or even two) had resurfaced.

"Director Korra," Mako handed his map to her, "reporting in. This is our route."

The woman, a few years older than Mako, looked at the map. Before Korra Yue had been hired as Dispatch Director, she'd been part of a cab service that served all of Republic City. From what Mako had heard, hiring her had been one of Chief Beifong's first moved when she was promoted, and it paid off. Ms. Yue had an uncanny ability to know where the city officers were, and who to dispatch when. It was a gift she shared with each dispatcher she trained.

"And your partner?"

"Lee," Mako said.

Korra Yue made a face.

"They always mess up my new hires," Korra said, "drive too slow, never paying attention to the road…"

"I just play the hand I'm dealt," Mako said.

"Alright," Korra Yue looked at the map again, "try to report in every fifteen minutes, okay? I've got a few rookies here, and I'm still trying to teach them how to handle slugs."

Mako chuckled despite himself, "Will do."

Mako left, and found Lee waiting for him, Sato-mobile gassed and ready.

"Mako!" Lee shouted, "I've called in our car number! Ready to hit the streets?"

"Ready," Mako said, trying his best to hide his apprehension.

"Lets go fight some crime!" Lee said, a goofy smile on his face.

As they pulled out of the station and into traffic, Lee's speed slowed considerably, as his eyes fell upon the dozens of people that were making their way through the city streets. Even this late, Republic City hummed with activity.

To Mako, it felt like home. But he glanced at Lee, who was as tense as a surrounded hamster-mouse.

"So Lee, what did you do before you joined the Reserves?" Mako asked. To his embarrassment, he realized that he knew next to nothing about the man, despite his easy going nature.

"I was training to be a carpenter," Lee said, "but my uncle was killed in a Red Lotus attack, and I thought I should do my duty first, you know? I went through the certifying trials, and let me tell you, those are a little scary, and turns out I was a metal bender!"

"You didn't know?" Mako said.

Lee's eyes carefully scanned the men and women on the street.

"Nah, before I joined the service, earth bending just meant I never had to pack a tent when I went camping. My parents weren't benders, and lessons would have cost too much," said Lee, "I did more bending in three days of basic than I ever did ten years before."

"So you didn't join as a career then?"

"Nah," Lee shrugged, "but they keep giving me new orders. What're you gonna do? At least they included the rotation to include police service, right? Get to see my family, at least."

"Right, I…whoa!" Mako grabbed his seat as Lee swerved suddenly. The cars behind him made their displeasure known, horns blaring.

"What was that?!" Mako demanded, gripping his seat.

"Sorry, thought that woman back there was a water bender," Lee said.

Mako glanced in the rear view mirror, and saw a woman who looked like she belonged to one of the water tribes.

"She might have been!" Mako said, "so what?"

Lee glanced aside, "…never mind."

The patrol car fell silent after that, and remained that way until the radio cackled.

"This is dispatch, we have a report of vandalism at eleventh and Appa, at 'Aunt Chi's Nack and Nicks'. Any cars in the area, please respond."

"That's us," Mako grabbed the radio, "this is Officer Mako with Officer Lee. We'll take the call."

"Acknowledged."

"Up left," Mako said.

Lee pulled in, and the two got out.

Mako looked at the shop, 'Aunt Chi's Nack and Nicks'. Aunt Chi was a fire bender, married to a metal bender. They specialized in odd sculpture, though they took a fair share of requests.

This little shop had a special place in Mako's heart. 'Aunt Chi' was a short tempered woman to be sure, but she also made a point to boy and recycle any junk that was brought to her for art projects. Mako and his younger brother, Bolin had earned a decent amount of coin from her, back when they were on the streets.

Bolin never really noticed how little of it she actually used, but Mako did.

"Mako!" Aunt Chi, a woman reaching her sixties, stomped over to him, "thank the spirits! Those little vandals destroyed some of our finest work!"

Mako looked over Aunt Chi's shoulder, and saw her husband, Uncle Chi, sitting on a work bench, sobbing. Mako knew how much the man loved his work, and how much he wanted to support his family.

Mako took out his notebook, and was about to say something to Lee, when the man, without any orders, went to Uncle Chi, and sat down before him. Lee offered Uncle Chi his hand in support, and listened as the man explained the tragedy of his lost art.

Mako took the report from Aunt Chi, and as he did so he watched Lee out of the corner of his eye. While some might have balked at dealing with a man crying over his lost art, Lee treated him Uncle Chi with nothing but sincere sympathy and respect.

"Alright," Mako finished his last note, and flipped his book shut, "Officer Lee and I will take a look around, let you know what we find. We're on this, you have my word."

"Thank you, Mako," Aunt Chi said, "you were always such a good boy."

"Thank you, ma'am," Mako motioned for Lee to join him, "we'll get to the bottom of this."

Lee waited until the two shop owners were out of earshot, and turned to his partner.

"How do you expect to find the kids who did this?"

"You just have to know the neighborhood," Mako said.

Mako led Lee down the street, into a wide alley with overgrowing grass.

"Hey, Skoochy, you around here?" Mako called out.

"Loser!"

"Back stabber!"

Mako winced as he and Lee were splashed with water. He half expected it, truth be told. There were dues that had to be paid, for what he was looking for, after all.

What he didn't expect was Lee's reaction. In the blink of an eye, Lee had spotted the kids, and two chunks of earth went flying towards them like cannonballs. The window that the kids had been hiding behind was destroyed instantly. The two kids who'd splashed them were so terrified by what had just happened, they clung to each other in fear as Lee aimed his wrist and willed his cables out.

"Wait!"

Mako swung his foot and kicked Lee's arm up, knocking his aim off balance, and saving the life of his 'attacker'. The two kids, Water Tribe from what Mako glimpsed, scrambled out of the room that had been overlooking the alley.

"Stay here!" Mako ordered.

Mako knew this street, and knew this alley like he knew the back of his hand. So he knew where the kids would head for a quick exit.

He found the two, and recognized them instantly. Two Water Tribe kids, a brother and sister team of pickpockets by the name of Nanook and Nyla.

The second they saw Mako, they raised their hands in submission.

"We give up!"

"Don't hurt us!"

"Hey, calm down!" Mako said, "I'm not looking to hurt anyone, just get some answers."

"Did you tell your partner that?" Nanook demanded.

"He nearly killed us!"

"He's just a little high strung," Mako said weakly, "won't happen again."

"What do you want?" Nanook said.

"I just need to find Skoochy," Mako said, "I have to have a quick chat with him."

"Your partner nearly killed us!" Nyla spat, "why should we help you?"

"Look, I'm sorry," Mako said, "giove me an address, and I'll make it worth your while."

"How?"

Mako told them.

"Well, okay then," Nanook smiled, "he's at fifth and Chi."

Mako collected his partner, and they quickly made their way to fifth and Chi. But Mako suspected that they weren't neatly fast enough to beat the word of mouth, because when the two police officers reached the address, he found his old friend Skoochy leaning against a lamppost.

Mako glanced around the busy street, and he could feel a half dozen different eyes examining him.

"Stay here," Mako said, "I'm going to talk to Skoochy alone."

"You sure?" Lee said.

"Positive, I know him from back when," Mako said, "trust me, okay?"

"Hey ash head," Skoochy said, as Mako approached, "that gold shield make you forget where you come from?"

"Why, what'd you hear?"

"That you and your partner nearly ran down the twins," Skoochy snapped, "that's some heavy handed stuff, man!"

Mako sighed. Word of mouth was faster than any cop, but facts were always slower than both.

"That was just my partner," Mako defended, "he didn't mean to react like he did. Reflexes, you know?"

"Yea well, keep tank boy over there," Skoochy said, "don't tread on me, bro."

"He won't," Mako grabbed Skoochy by the collar, "but I just might. Aunt Chi's? Seriously?"

"Hey, it wasn't me!" Skoochy pulled himself free.

"That lady looks out for all of us," Mako growled, "she and her husband live hand to mouth because of it. Now, I want the name of the guy who vandalized her merchandise, and I want a location. And I want him to be there when I get there too."

"You know I can't just sell someone out like that," Skoochy said.

"I'm arresting someone for this," Mako said, "I'd like it to be the right person, but I'll take what I can get."

"Fine," Skoochy huffed, "it was Han."

"Han?"

"What did I just say?" said Skoochy.

"I thought Han was a runner for the Agni Ki," Mako said.

"They're old news," said Skoochy, "these days, it's the Triple Threat that's big, and everyone wants in. And to do that, you have to stand out from the pack."

"Like crossing Aunt Chi," Mako said, "tell me where Han's crashing at. And tell him that if he stays, I'll do him a solid."

"Like what?"

Mako told him.

Skoochy smiled.

"Well, I can't see him turning that down."

_Later _

"Alright, mighty Han," Mako hauled the young Han through the precinct and to the cells. He shoved him in the first open cell, "make yourself comfortable. No old ladies to push around, but otherwise it should feel just like home."

Han responded with a string of profanities. Mako let it wash over his back, as he rubbed his sore stomach. Lee was waiting for him at his desk.

"I don't understand why you let that punk hit you," Lee said.

"Only way to make sure he'd stick around," Mako said, "Han thinks he's being arrested for assaulting an officer, which he thinks'll make him look bigger to the Triple Threat. What he doesn't know is that I'm going to put a note in his file recommending community service. And guess where he'll be assigned?"

Lee smiled, "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes."

"If anyone can straighten out a punk, it's Aunt Chi."

"Yeah," Lee's smile fell, "look, Mako, about those kids, I…I know I overreacted. When I was serving in Omashu, my unit was patrolling the market when two water benders came out of nowhere. We didn't know what was what until three guys were on the ground, in a puddle of their own blood."

"I'm sorry," Mako said softly.

"I'm not asking you keep what happened out of the report," Lee said, "just…let me report it to the chief tomorrow, okay? I don't want you to choose between me and doing the right thing."

"Hey, what happened was an accident," Mako said, "no reason we have to make a big deal about it, just as long as it doesn't happen again, okay?"

Lee stood up straighter, "It won't, kid."

"Lets hope," Mako said, "why don't you hit the showers? I'll do the write up, and you can review it tomorrow? I've got other paper work to do, too."

"Will do!" Lee left, with a relieved sigh.

Mako made it a point to keep a nice, friendly smile on his face until Lee was out of sight. When the man was gone, Mako fell back in his chair, and breathed out.

He knew he should report Lee for excessive force. He knew it was wrong to fudge his report, no matter how many other cops did the exact same thing. Mako knew that.

And he wished that he could say that he'd done it because Lee was such a nice, caring man. And he was, the man had soul and empathy to spare. He was the sort of man Mako wished he could be, and hoped one day his children might be. Kind, dedicated and smart. He rarely ever had to be prompted to help someone, if it was in his ability.

But that wasn't why Mako was fudging his reports.

It was because he was afraid that if he reported Lee, the man would be replaced with someone much worse. Metal benders were the all stars of the United Force military but also the backbone of the Republic City police force. It had taken Chief Beifong a considerable amount of political muscle just to hold onto an agreed amount, and no one wanted to upset that balance.

As Mako wrote his report, he thought back to Skoochy's words, and allowed a small grin of satisfaction. The Triple Threat Triad were a quickly growing as a power in the underworld, pushing out the older Red Monsoon and Agni Ki.

And thanks to the Chief and Asami, he was perfectly poised to take them down.

It was a happy thought that helped him deal with Lee, and the state of the police in general.

Mako had just made some progress in his paperwork, when a young woman, Water Tribe Mako guessed, approached his desk with a suspicious smile.

"Detective Mako?" she smiled, "you called a cab?"

"I did not," Mako said plainly.

The young woman reached into her purse, and produced a card. Mako recognized it instantly. From the emblem, it designated her an executive assistant to the Council.

"Are you sure?"

"…maybe I did," Mako straightened out his desk, stood up and followed the young woman out.

His mind was racing, and all he could think about was his testimony to the Council, about the 'Avatar'. They'd grilled him relentlessly, but at least then the Chief was there to back him up. Now, on his own?

Mako couldn't help but feel his temperature rise.

'Cab' was a misnomer, Mako realized, when the young woman led Mako to a limo that had been waiting in a parking lot across the street.

"Detective Mako, welcome!" Councilman Tarrlock smiled at the young firebender, "before we start, let me please apologize for how you were brought here. I didn't want to cause a stir by asking to speak to you in the precinct, but I'm aware of how councilmen in the past have treated the police as errand boys. I assure you, young man, that is not the case here."

"Thank you, sir," Mako said, "I assume that this is about Old Man Mako's murder?"

Tarrlock leaned back and chuckled, "Right to the point. But first, do you have any plans for tonight? I ask because I was given some tickets to your brother's performance, but I'm too busy to indulge."

"No sir, just dinner and bed, nothing fancy," Mako said.

"Well, I'd like to put them to good use," Tarrlock reached into his pocket, and handed the tickets to Mako, "I envy you. Your brother…"

"Is a bit over the top?" Mako winked.

"Well, yes," Tarrlock chuckled. He leaned back and tapped twice in the window. The limo started to move, "but he does it well. What I was going to say is that you're lucky that you and your brother are still together after everything you've been through. I had a younger brother, and…and a very harsh father. He ran away when I was still a boy, and I've not seen him since."

"I'm sorry sir."

"Thank you," Tarrlock sighed, "but that's not why I'm here. I'm here about your encounter with the Avatar…"

"No sir," Mako said.

"I'm sorry?"

"I don't know if the person who killed Old Man Mako and attacked me was the Avatar," Mako said, "yes, the person was male, and could control water, earth and fire. But that doesn't mean he was the Avatar. To begin with, the fire wasn't like anything I've seen before."

"So what are you saying?"

"That everything I told the Council was true," Mako said, "but that doesn't mean I know who attacked me. It may have been the Avatar, somehow. It may have been something else. It could have been one of the Lightning Twins, for all I know."

Tarrlock leaned back and smiled.

"You know what makes you different from so many young people?" Tarrlock said, "what I like so much about you?"

"No sir."

"Your ignorance," Tarrlock said.

"Sir?"

"Well, your willingness to acknowledge it," Tarrlock said, "most people in your position would insist that it was the Avatar, or lie and cover it up because they couldn't explain what they saw otherwise. Not you. You stick to the truth, even when you can't explain everything. That's character, young man."

"Thank you sir."

"The Council? Not as much," Tarrlock growled, "the Red Lotus has had the Avatar for over a decade now. Who can say what they did to her? Perhaps they found a way to allow others to bend all four elements. Perhaps they killed her. And we still don't know what happened the Night of Vaatu."

"It took some arm bending, but I've convinced the Council to investigate your attack. We'll have a taskforce dedicated to it, you have my word."

Mako felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. They believed him! It was getting to the point that he didn't know if he believed himself.

"That's good to hear, sir," Mako said.

"But I'm afraid that you won't be a part of it," Tarrlock said, "the Council is afraid that if you're lying, you'd use the opportunity to cover it up."

"I understand, sir."

"I'm telling you this because I thought you deserved to know," Tarrlock said, "and to ask, in private, is there anything you didn't put in your report? Anything else you've held back?"

"No sir," Mako said, with complete honesty.

"Glad to hear it."

The limo pulled to a stop.

"Well, we're here," Tarrlock said, "thank you for your time, Detective. And do me a favor, young man?"

"Yes sir?"

"Hug your brother. In this uncertain world, family is the strongest defense we all have."

End Chapter.


	11. Act 2 Part 5

Chaos Theory 10

"Do you know when it started?" Gemma said, "did you feel any different the day before? Did you take any…special medication? How'd you know you could airbend at all?"

The two Beifongs were enjoying dinner with their extended family. Tenzin, Pema, and their four children were all in attendance, but Gemma, much like her cousins, struggled to turn their attention away from their Uncle Bumi, who'd developed air bending seemingly overnight.

"Gemma," Lin said softly, a smile on her face, "this is dinner with family, not an interrogation or academy paper. You can dissect Bumi later, literally for all I care, but give him some peace here."

"Oh, I'm not offended at all," Bumi said, never one to turn away attention, "how I discovered it was truly amazing. In fact, it reminds me of the time I was on patrol in the South Pole…"

"How did you discover that you could bend?" Gemma asked, for the seventh time. Each time before, Bumi's explanation had dove-tailed into some other story about a past adventure, but Gemma wasn't about to give up anytime soon.

"He was fighting off Red Lotus ninjas!" Meelo offered.

"Through complete self-awareness!" Bumi said.

"You did something stupid, didn't you?" Lin said.

"Lin, you know the answer to that," Pema said, with a hint of humor.

"You're right," Lin said, "he was stubbornly doing something that could have could have been accomplished by a bender in several seconds, wasn't he?"

"Correct," Pema smiled.

"It was an act of genius, I assure you," Bumi said.

Lin turned her attention to Tenzin, who was fairly subdued, something that baffled Lin.

Up until the birth of his children, he'd been the last Airbender, the last of the Air nomads, an entire society and culture. Now, the bending of his people had returned overnight, and yet, Tenzin didn't even have that soft smile that Lin had come to expect of him even in harsher times.

"When did this all start?" Lin asked.

"After the 'Night of Vaatu'," Tenzin said, "it's believed the harmonic convergence released a wave of energy, and restored air bending to the world."

"I see," Lin said, and realized why Tenzin was so subdued, so hesitant about the possible return of his people.

The return of air bending to the world was because of the Red Lotus, somehow, and because of that Lin had little doubt her former lover was beating himself up even now, now that he had an entire people to lead, to teach, to further spread his culture.

The Red Lotus' kidnapping of the Avatar had been one of the final nails in their relationship. Tenzin refused to forgive himself for failing, for not doing enough to save the young Avatar. Lin had pointed out, time and again, that in the end Tenzin was a civilian, with no combat experience outside of a few odd fights, and that none of what happened was his fault.

But Tenzin refused to hear anything of it. And the harder Lin tried to persuade him otherwise, the harder Tenzin pulled away, intent on punishing himself for failing to live up to the legacy of his father. And now that the Red Lotus could be responsible for the return of air bending itself?

It was no doubt a double blow to his self confidence.

"That's only a theory though," Jinora said quickly, a look of distain on her face, "it's not as if anyone trustworthy has all the facts as to what happened that night."

Lin studied the young air bender for a moment. She had a scowl on her face that she was struggling to hide, and her tone sounded as if she wanted to say more, but couldn't. Lin didn't know what exactly to make of it, but it raised her cop instincts.

She knew when someone was holding back information.

"Spirits," Lin said, filing away the thought for later, "I read a report about air bending vandals just this morning, but I thought it was just Meelo."

"That was actually Taki and a few other gentlemen," Tenzin said, "apparently, adults who are new to air bending have a difficult time controlling it, at first. They literally didn't know what they were doing."

"What made you think it could possibly be Meelo causing all that havoc?" Pema said.

Lin raised her glass to her lips and smiled, "Because I've met him."

"Hey!" Meelo stood up, indignant, "I resemble that remark!...wait…"

"No, you got it right the first time," Jinora said.

"But isn't this amazing?" Ikki said, "maybe Uncle Bumi can play capture hide tag with us now!"

"He's on my team," Gemma said, "I'm tired of being completely outnumbered. United Forces against air brats, I'd take those odds any day."

"I'm so going to be United Forces when I grow up!" Meelo pounded his chest, "I'll be as cool as Uncle Bumi and Gemma! I bet I'll get to fight bad guys like the Rough Rhinos and the Lightning Twins!"

Gemma shared a glance with Bumi.

"It's not as fun as it sounds, Meelo," Gemma said, "trust me."

"Hey Gemma, I heard you were in a fight!" Meelo said, "who'd you beat up? I bet there were dozens, right?"

Lin felt a pit for him her stomach, as she observed both Tenzin's and Gemma's reaction. Tenzin, a member of the council, knew exactly what incident Meelo was referring to. As for Gemma, she could see the fork in her hand beginning to tremble.

"Meelo!" Jinora slapped her brother upside the head, "that's work. No one wants to talk about work at dinner."

"Not unless it's to complain," Lin added, "that, dear, is a sacred right."

"It's good you're here, Lin," Tenzin said, "there are some important matters we need to discuss later."

Lin saw Bumi give her a knowing look, and sighed.

"Well, lets save it for later then," Lin said, "I'd like to keep my appetite now."

_Later , after dinner_

"Alright you two," Pema watched as first Meelo and Ikki finished removed the dinner plates from the table, and then washed them while she and Tenzin dried and stacked them, brother and sister working in perfect harmony. The two couldn't have been acting more suspicious of they tried, "what do you want?"

"What makes you say we want anything?" Ikki said innocently.

"We wanna play hide tag with Gemma!" Meelo shouted.

Ikki and Meelo looked at one another.

"Dope!"

"Suck up!"

"Enough you two," Pema stepped between them.

"Gemma's probably had a long day, you should give her some space," Tenzin said, his tone hopeful.

"I'm sure she'd love to play," Pema shot Tenzin a withering look, and then smiled warmly at her children, "she's meditating with Jinora. But she's got to be at work tomorrow, so ask Acolyte Tam if he'd be willing to clean up first, and just make sure to ask Gemma _politely_."

Pema watched her children run off screaming in delight. She kept a good natured, motherly smiled on her face until they were out of sight.

"Pema…"

"You, Lin and Bumi have business to discuss, don't you?" Pema said, "I'll go collect Lin, you can gather Bumi. I assume you'll be meeting in the old study, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll see you there."

oooOOoo

Jinora and Gemma sat across one another, legs crossed in a lotus position.

"Can you feel my heartbeat?" Jinora had Gemma's wrists in her hands.

"I'm a Beifong," Gemma smiled, "what are we trying here?"

"It's an experiment," Jinora said, "a meditative exercise, trying to sync our heartbeats and hopefully reach a deeper inner peace. A few of the acolytes are earth benders, and I think this could help them."

Gemma didn't question it, not at first. As a general rule, she was always up for experimenting with her bending, or helping some experiment with theirs. She knew of a few Air Acolytes who were earth benders, so she believed Jinora easily enough.

That was, until, Jinora asked her a question in a voice that reminded Gemma of Tenzin. Polite, completely respectful while already knowing the answer.

"How have you been sleeping lately?"

Gemma felt her heart spike, and realized instantly that Jinora could feel the same.

"I…"

"Gemma!" Meelo all but tackled the young earth bender, and broke her hold on Jinora.

"Want to play hide tag?" Ikki said, "umm, please?"

"Meelo, Ikki, we were meditating," Jinora growled. She could feel a vein on her head throbbing, "peacefully."

Gemma breathed a sigh of relief, "It's alright, we can pick this up later. Two flags, just let me find my belt!"

oooOOoo

_Elsewhere_

Lin removed her armor with her bending, and set it on a headless mannequin in the far corner. She and Gemma had stayed over at Air Temple Island so many times now, that one of the many 'guest rooms' had been converted into a room just for the two of them. If Lin was being honest with herself, it stung just a little bit, that it was same mannequin that had once adorned her and Tenzin's room on this very island.

But only a little bit. That wound had since healed, by both time and necessity.

Wearing only her tank-top, she began rummaging through the shirts and sweaters she'd left from last time, when Pema knocked on the door, and let herself in.

"Lin? Tenzi and Bumi should be ready for you in the study," Pema said. She took a look at Lin's back, criss-crossed in scars, and took in a sharp breath.

"Triple Threat Triads and Red Monsoon," Lin said, answering the unspoken question, "they've gotten a little bolder of late. They're not deep, just pot shots."

"I'd heard, but…," Pema couldn't think of a polite way to say it, so she just said it, "how do you have so many more scars than Gemma?"

Lin shrugged, "Luck. And vastly different tactical situations. In general, if someone gets the drop on me, they instinctively know they'll be dealing with pissed off officers no matter what happens. Almost every criminal in a fight has their foot half way out the door before they even attack. That works to my advantage. If someone gets the drop on Gemma, well…"

The statement lingered in the air. While both women knew what Lin was alluding to, but saying it aloud made it too real, too uncomfortable for casual conversation.

"Besides, Gemma has enough scars," Lin said.

"Those look uncomfortable," Pema observed, "would you like me to help put some lotion on them?"

"I'd appreciate that," Lin lifted up her top, as Pema picked up the bottle of lotion she always kept in this room for Gemma.

"It's a little old, but should still be good," Pema said. She dabbed a small amount on her hands, and when she went to spread it on Lin's back, the older woman nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Spirits that's freezing!"

"The mighty police chief of Republic City can't handle a little cold?" Pema chuckled, "good thing we don't have an audience, you'd never live it down."

"If we had an audience, they wouldn't be looking at that," Lin said, "hell, if Tenzin came in right now, the airhead would either have a heart attack, or think he was already dead and gone to the spirit world."

Lin smiled with satisfaction as she caught Pema's reaction in the reflection of the room's window. Pema was blissfully silent after that, until the scars were covered.

"Thank you," Lin decided on a loose fitting sweater for the remainder of the evening, "Pema, may I ask you a personal question?"

"Sullen," Pema replied, without hesitation.

"The stupid airhead," Lin muttered.

"Don't say that," Pema said, "you know how he's always tried to live up to his father's legacy. Even on his good days, he refuses to forgive himself for not saving the Avatar, and now that the return of air bending might have happened because of that failure, well…"

"Tenzin doesn't know what to think, only that he's to blame," Lin said.

Pema nodded, "That's the extent of it."

"I thought as much," Lin sighed, "alright, lets go see what Tenzin and the Bearded Blimp want to discuss."

oooOOoo

"Watch out world, here I come!" Meelo shouted as he leapt from the bushes.

According to the rules of the game, Gemma only had a limited space she could hide in, but experience had taught Meelo that that limited space wasn't a handicap to the earth bender.

He checked the trees, listening for any tell tale signs of earth bending, before his eyes settled on the spinning gates.

"It's the perfect cover, the ultimate in concealment," Meelo said, "except now!"

Meelo sent a gust of wind through the gates, and they lived up to their name. Meelo watched carefully, expecting to see a certain earth bender come tumbling out.

When that failed to happen, he turned around and looked for other places Gemma could be hiding. And when he looked away, Gemma silently danced out of the gates, came up behind Meelo as silent as the wind he controlled, and tore free the flags from his belt.

"Beifong one, airbrats zero!" Gemma declared, as she stuffed her stolen prizes in her belt.

"Nooo!" Meelo wailed dramatically, "I'm dead! Dead! Goodbye cruel world!"

Gemma looked at Meelo in annoyance.

"You're not protesting underpants again, are you?"

"That was the one time!" Meelo huffed.

"Good," Rock encased Meelo's feet, and Gemma yanked Meelo's pants down, exposing his tightie-whiteys to the world, "that'll teach you not to underestimate Beifongs, and to give away my position!"

"Hey!" Gemma turned her head, and saw Ikki barreling towards her on an air scooter, "no one embarrasses my brother like that except me!"

"Catch me if you can!" Gemma willed a column of earth from the ground, pitching her into the air like a spring. The earth bender tucked, concentrated and when she hit the earth, she parted it like water, and the only sign of where she'd gone was a crack in the ground that sped away from Ikki.

"Avenge me!" Meelo shouted, "avvvenge meee!"

"Ha!" Ikki said, as she raced after the crack, "no earth bender will ever outrace an air bender!"

The crack suddenly stopped, and Ikki skidded to a halt above it.

"I know you have to come up for air eventually!" Ikki said. She hovered at the end of the fissure Gemma had created, like a cat ready to pounce, "Come on, already!"

Gemma exploded out of the ground behind Ikki, and swiped her flags before she could even turn around.

"Doesn't matter how fast you are if you don't think two steps ahead," Gemma said.

"I agree."

Gemma felt a wind sweep past, and when she turned around, she discovered two flags missing from her belt.

Jinora landed silently, glider staff in one hand, flags in the other.

"Using your brother and sister as bait?" Gemma smiled, "that's not exactly playing fair."

"All's fair in hide tag, and I don't need them slowing me down," Jinora smiled, before she became a blur of movement.

oooOOoo

"Alright airhead," Lin pulled her chair out and sat down across from the sons of Aang, "what did you want to discuss? Council business, I assume?"

"Indeed," Tenzin turned to his wife, "Pema, if you'll excuse us?"

"Of course," Pema nodded politely, and turned to leave.

"Wait," Lin said, "Tenzin, is any of what we're going to discuss classified?"

"Well, strictly speaking, no," Tenzin said, "there'll be a press release in a few days, you know how Tarrlock is."

"Pema, you can stay," Lin said, "if you'd like."

"Lin, this is rather irregular…" Tenzin said.

"This is an informal meeting regarding public policy that's probably already been decided, the details of which will be splashed across the newspapers in the coming days," Lin said, "there's no security risk. You can stay, Pema, if you'd like. I insist."

"I…," Pema was a little taken back, to put it mildly, "let me check on Rohan. I'll be back in a moment."

"We'll wait," Lin said.

"Wow," Bumi said, the second Pema was out of earshot, "should we be worried that the real Lin is locked up somewhere, and we're dealing with the imposter?"

"I could bend you across the bay, if you'd like proof of my identity," Lin said, "I bet I could punt you over Aang's statue without breaking a sweat."

"It's her."

"Pema is a citizen of the United Republic," Lin said, "there's no reason why she shouldn't be informed about what's happening. That's the problem with dealing with these Red Lotus terrorists. Everyone wants them dealt with, but they want someone else to do it for them. Frankly, I wish I could arrest everyone who didn't vote."

"Yup," Bumi said, "it's definitely her."

"I'm back," Pema said nervously. She was carrying Rohan and had a bottle in one hand, "umm, is it okay if I feed him?"

"Go ahead," Lin said, with a slight smirk. Pema was obviously out of her depth, but Lin respected the fact that she was at least here, "okay, Tenzin. What did you want to discuss?"

"Have you been in contact with your sister recently?"

"No," Lin said, "we've been too busy lately. Has something happened?"

"Nothing bad," Tenzin said, "apparently, your nephews accidently managed to triple crop production. That's far more than Zaofu can distribute before it spoils, and they've asked us for help."

"I'm proud for Su and the twins, but what does this have to do with me?" Lin drummed her fingers on the table, and gave Tenzin her best 'Do not screw with me' look, the look she normally reserved for hardened criminals.

It was no less effective on air bending council members.

"We're going to send them a convoy of equipment, it should be ready inside of a week. The Council would like you to be part of the escort to Zaofu," said Tenzin.

"The Council?" Lin spat, "more like Tarrlock and his cronies. Damn it, Tenzin, if I've said it once I've said it a million times, my police force isn't an army, and I'm not a commander! It should be the United Forces providing an escort, not the police chief."

"Lin, it's not like that," Tenzin said.

"Is it?" Lin said, "I know my limits, Tenzin. On the street, at a crime scene and in a fight, I'm amazing. But I never trained for the battle field. The more my police force and the army mix, the more the lines blur, the worse you make both."

"It can't be that bad," Pema said, "both are institutions designed to protect…"

"And how they and we do it are very different," Lin said, "my officers are trained to protect and serve, with lethal force being a last resort. With soldiers, it's their first resort. The night of Vaatu, Gemma and I were ambushed…"

"I heard about that," Bumi said, "Uncle Zhu, right? Shame what happened to him. Met him around when I started serving."

"That's correct," Lin said, "we were ambushed by five men. Gemma killed them all."

"I'm certain she was only defending herself," Pema's hand swept to her husband's leg just before he could fidget, and pressed down. Tenzin got the silent message.

"She was," Lin said, "but now I have five dead bodies and no leads. I have to work twice as hard to get half the information."

"Lin, please, you're getting off point," Tenzin said, "this isn't about turning your police force into an army, it's about getting Zaofu the equipment it needs to stave off a famine, and to build a solid relationship with Zaofu."

"If you really wanted to do that," Lin said, "if you want to make our entire family happy, you'd stop the re-upping enlistments!"

"I've argued against it every time the matter is brought to a vote, you know that!" Tenzin snapped.

"How hard, Tenzin, how hard? Because three days!" Lin snapped, "three days she was back before they shipped her off to Omashu! It was supposed to be three months!"

"It was an emergency," Tenzin defended,

"They're all emergencies!" Lin said, "and it's not just Gemma! You keep taking my metal benders who signed up for the reserves years ago!"

"And we're trying to ease the burden on your police force. That was why we introduced the police rotation to the reserves!"

"Yes, you take my cops and give me soldiers," Lin said, "like I've said, that isn't better, Tenzin. I'd rather the Council honor the commitments to the reserves, like the reserves have honored theirs. How is Gemma supposed to start her own life when she could be whisked away to put out the latest bush fire?"

"It's not that bad," Bumi said, "military life isn't all terror, all the time, Lin."

"You're career military," Lin said, "Gemma isn't. She's supposed to be reserve. She's supposed to be starting her own life now!"

"Lin, we're getting off base," Tenzin said, "are you going to agree to escort the convoy or not?"

"Under two conditions," Lin said, "first, I want a team of military trained metal benders along with me."

"I thought you didn't want them on your force?" Pema said.

"I don't want soldiers on my police force," Lin said, "they belong on a battle field. And if this turns into a battle, I can't think of anyone I'd want on my side more."

"I have to agree there," Bumi said, "I've seen metal benders in action. No better friend, no worse enemy indeed. And don't get me started on the Hami clan…"

Lin scowled, but kept her opinion on the desert clan to herself, "Second, I want to know, what did you get out of this?"

"Excuse me?" Tenzin said.

"I don't care for politics, but I know how they're played, and I know you," Lin said, "I was a detective, remember? You asked for this informal meeting because you didn't want to make this request in front of the Council yourself, something I've specifically asked you not to do."

"Why can't Tenzin make a request in front of the Council?" Pema huffed.

"Because when I disagree with him, the other members of the Council treat it like an ex-lovers quarrel," Lin said.

"And you've always so reasonable," Pema said softly.

Lin gritted her teeth, and ignored the comment, "It undermines my authority. So if you're asking, you must be getting something out of it."

"See…well…Lin, it's like this, see…"

"Just spit it out, airhead," Lin's eyes drifted to Bumi, and she remembered his comments at the dock, "…wait one second, Bumi?"

"Bumi what?" said Tenzin.

"Bumi's leading a taskforce to recruit air benders, isn't he?" Lin said.

"How'd you know that?" Bumi said.

"Because at the docks, you introduced yourself as taskforce commander," Lin deadpanned, "not only was I a detective, I have common sense."

Lin looked at her former lover, "Tenzin, why? Why aren't you out there, recruiting new air benders?"

"Hey, I'm the son of Aang too!" Bumi defended.

Lin turned to Bumi, "And you've spent your entire life defining yourself outside of that. Hell, you only got a B on that air bending report in school because I threatened you!"

"Hey, I'm perfectly qualified to recruit some new air benders," Bumi said, "I'm a new air bender myself!"

Lin turned to Tenzin, "Tenz, please. I respect Bumi, despite his best efforts, but he shouldn't be the one spearheading this. For years you were the only air bender, and you're the head of the Air Nation, for Spirits' sake!"

"The Council thinks, and I agree," Tenzin said, "that it would be safer if this was overseen by the military. Bumi's perfectly qualified to handle this, and we'll stay in radio contact."

"Tenzin, please reconsider," Lin said, "I'm sure Bumi is qualified…"

"That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Bumi said, "'Bumi is qualified', I'm really touched, Lin."

"…but he's also military," Lin said, "the people he's recruiting might fear he's recruiting them for an army, and the Red Lotus fanatics might target them to prevent the same. You need to reconsider, Tenzin, please!"

"I agree with the Council's decision," Tenzin sighed, "and I trust my brother."

Lin wanted to say that it wasn't about trust, it was about the fact that he was the head of the Air Nation. That there was no one in the world more qualified to help these new air benders come into their new abilities than him.

But she recognized that tone, that slump in his shoulders. Tenzin, when he made up his mind, didn't always dig in his heels. Instead he'd just resign himself, allowing any arguments to just roll off his shoulders.

"…fine," Lin said. She knew when a fight was lost, "so I'll be overseeing an equipment convoy. Anything else? Any progress regarding…the assault on my officer?"

Bumi and Pema both suddenly felt as if they were intruding.

"Tarrlock will be ready to announce the Council's decision soon," said Tenzin, "you'll know the second I do."

"I better," Lin stood up, "it looks like this will be a long week, so unless you have anymore more to add, I'm going to turn in."

"That's everything," Tenzin said.

"I need to go find our little terrors," Pema said. She followed after Lin, and when they were down the hall, Lin turned to the younger woman.

"Pema," Lin only barely had to force the words from her mouth, "thank you."

"For what?"

"For staying," Lin said, "especially after what I said about Gemma."

"I didn't hear any reason to leave," Pema said, "goodnight, Lin."

"Goodnight, Pema."

Pema left Lin, and made her way outside. The night was warm enough, so she didn't mind strolling the island, as she listened for her children.

"…get up, maggot!" Meelo shouted

"Come on, Jinora!" Ikki said, "just two more!"

Pema found her children, and Gemma, in the woods. Gemma and Jinora were leaning back to back, covered in sweat. Gemma had two flags on her belt, Jinora had five, and the final flag was in both their hands, in Gemma's left and Jinora's right. Neither wanted to give up, but neither had the strength to continue.

"Alright, lets call it a draw," Pema said.

"Aww, mom, we were just about to win!" Ikki said.

"You'll just have to settle for a draw," Pema said.

"No! There is no second place in war!" Meelo shouted, "up and at them, soldier!"

"Meelo," Pema said sternly, "that's enough. Go wash up and get ready for bed. Now."

"Aww," Meelo pouted.

Gemma and Jinora climbed to their feet, and brushed themselves off.

"I don't know how you keep up with them," Gemma said.

"Gemma, can I have a piggy-back?" Jinora leapt on the older girl before she could answer, and Gemma found herself thankful for her endurance training.

"Lots of patience," Pema smiled.

"You are such a baby," Ikki said, her nose in the air.

Jinora rested her head on Gemma's shoulder, and softly said, "You never answered my question."

"I'm doing fine," Gemma said, hoping she sounded convincing.

"Anything you'd like to talk about, I'd be willing to listen," Jinora said, "any time you want to talk, please remember that."

"I will."

"Also…" Jinora slid off of Gemma, and swiped two flags. With a boost of air bending, she leapt over Gemma, and landed besides her siblings, "airbrats for the win!"

The three took off towards the Air Temple, laughing in victory.

"That one is too smart," Gemma said.

"I'd like to think she got it from both of us," Pema said. She looked down at her son, "hopefully this one will take after his big sister."

Gemma glanced at Rohan, "Could I hold him?"

The earth bender held up a flag and, with a wry grin, and said, "I'll trade you a flag I swiped off Jinora."

"Hardly a fair trade, but I'll take it," Pema smiled. She carefully transferred her son into Gemma's arms. Rohan giggled softly, and began reaching for Gemma's face.

Gemma cooed at the youngest air bender, as Rohan giggled.

"He's perfect," Gemma said.

"Until he needs a diaper change or is hungry," Pema said, "wait until you have your own, you'll see."

Regret and anxiety twisted in Gemma's gut. She couldn't see children in her future.

"I wish I'd been here," Gemma said.

"I do too," Pema said, "but you're here now, that's what's important."

The two made their way to the Air Temple, and came upon Bumi standing on the porch. He had a bottle of sake, and two cups.

"Ladies!" Bumi said, "how are you this fine evening?"

"Tired," Gemma said. She handed Rohan to Pema, "I think I'm going to turn in for the night."

"Care to join me for a drink, first?" Bumi offered a cup to Gemma.

"I'm too young," Gemma said softly, "maybe in another few months."

"You're old enough, trust me," Bumi said.

"Perhaps later," Gemma said, "goodnight, Pema, Uncle Bumi."

"Good night, ladies," Bumi threw back the cup.

Pema made her way to the master bedroom, and she'd just finished putting Rohan in his crib, when Tenzin entered.

"The children are down for the night," Tenzin reported.

"Good," Pema said, trying to keep her voice neutral

"Dear, is something wrong?"

Pema sighed.

"As much as it pains me to say, Lin's right."

"Pema, we've discussed this, Bumi is perfectly capable…"

"Bumi isn't you," Pema said, "this new Air Nation will look to you to lead them, yet you're pawning off the responsibility of gathering them on your brother, a man who barely knows his own family history!"

"Bumi can handle it," Tenzin said, "and with more air benders in the world now, there could be people looking to steal our techniques. It's important that I'm here, now, to protect our children."

Pema sighed. She didn't believe that their children were in any real danger, but nor did she have the strength to deal with Tenzin's guilt slash fear complex, not tonight.

"Is that why you're angry with me?" Tenzin said.

"It's not the only reason," Pema said, "what were you thinking, trying to keep Ikki and Meelo from playing with Gemma? I know that tone."

"I was just…being careful," Tenzin said, "you've seen how Meelo idolizes her and Bumi."

"He's a little boy, of course he idolizes them!" Pema said, "that's no reason to keep him away from family."

"And what if he grows up and wants to join the United Forces," Tenzin said, "what then?"

"Then I'd be terrified," Pema said, "and I would do everything in my power to convince him otherwise. But one thing I won't do is shun members of this family. Especially not your brother, or the little girl who mediated with me when I was pregnant, just so she could listen to my children's heartbeat!"

"It's just…you heard Lin," Tenzin said.

"That she killed several men?" Pema said, "Tenzin, for spirit's sake, I'm a house wife, not a house plant. I've never thrown a punch, but that doesn't make me an idiot. I know why Bumi carries a different knife every time we see him, why he always pours two glasses of sake but only ever drinks one, and I knew Gemma killed people long before today. She's an elite soldier, everyone in Republic City knows that!"

"Pema…"

"I'm not naïve," Pema said, "for goodness' sake, I knew Lin was deputy chief when I confessed to you!"

Pema paused to reflect.

"Although I suppose, I should have seen the arrest for soliciting coming."

"I just want to keep our children safe," Tenzin said.

"Then trust your family," Pema wrapped her arms around her husband to comfort him, "I trust Bumi, Gemma and even Lin with their lives. But we can't teach them to shun the very same people who're making the sacrifice to keep us all safe. It doesn't matter if they're an uncle or cousin or even some stranger on the street."

"I know," Tenzin said, "I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

"I know," Pema said, "because if it does, I'll sic Lin on you."

Tenzin chuckled despite himself.

"If you do that, best be prepared to be a widow."

Pema rested her head against her husband's chest and smiled, "You'd have a lovely service, I promise."

End Chapter.


	12. Act 2 Part 6

Chaos Theory 11

When Korra awoke, the sun was burning bright in the sky.

After sinking the Fire Nation fort into the sea, the Red Lotus had taken refuge in the barn of a sympathetic farmer, some thirty miles from the fort. The long, forced march had left them all exhausted, and they'd collapsed into their sleeping bags almost immediately after dinner.

So Korra wasn't shocked that Zaheer and the older members. But it did concern her that none of them were here, now. The only other people present were Hiro (snoring like he was imitating a rockslide) and her adopted brother, Yangchen.

Korra stood up and stretched silently. She looked down, and saw that Yangchen had dislodged most of the top of his sleeping bag. She knelt down, and covered him, before she stepped outside.

When Korra did, she observed Ghazan, Ming-Hua and P'Li standing outside the main house. That didn't surprise Korra much. Zaheer was their leader, and for the sake of security he often only shared information when he absolutely had to, sometimes even from his inner circle.

What did surprise her were the two men that were with them. The first was a heavy set man, with tattoos down his arms like Ghazan, and a ball and chain resting on the ground at his feet. The ball of metal had a single sharp hook, befitting a man who only recognized the name Scorpion.

Korra had met him several times in the past, and the man was, in her opinion, a bloodthirsty fool. He'd somehow managed to master metal bending, yet refused to share the secret with anyone within the Red Lotus.

The fact incensed Korra. Metal bending was a closely guarded secret that gave their enemies a strong advantage on the battlefield, and his selfishness put them all at risk. And to Korra personally, the Scorpion was a tangible obstacle to her progress as the Avatar, unlike her issues with air bending.

And none of that was helped by the fact that, in Korra's opinion, the man was little more than a bloodthirsty fool. He'd taken up the banner of the Red Lotus not to restore nature, to restore balance to the world, but simply to shed blood.

The second man, known only as Shibou, was of average height, but with the exception of his arms was covered in all white. He had two swords strapped to his back, and another two strapped to his hips.

Rumor had it that Shibou possessed no bending, but was one of the greatest swordsmen alive. His body count in duels went high in the double digits, and more than half were benders.

Korra didn't care for him much either, because she saw them both as little more than blood thirsty dogs, and because she knew that they served as bodyguards for a man she loathed more than both of them combined.

"Ganbat," Korra muttered.

"Morning kiddo," Ghazan called out, "the lunkheads still asleep?"

"A fresh body equals a fresh mind," Korra said, "is Sifu in there?"

"He's busy," Scorpion sneered, "why don't you run off and go play?"

"Why don't you remember who you're talking to?" Korra snapped, and despite themselves, both Scorpion and Shibou flinched.

Ming-Hua snickered.

"Easy there, kid," Ghazan placed a hand on Korra's shoulder, "it's too easy for violence. Why don't you get some food?"

"I'd rather speak with Sifu," Korra said, "can he see me now?"

"You know how it is," Ghazan said, "he's discussing our next move. And the fewer people know what he's discussing, the better it is for everyone."

"Wisdom is rarely born from ignorance," Korra said, "Sifu…"

"Said you were to remain out here," Ghazan said, "sorry, kid."

Korra nodded with a sigh. She knew she shouldn't question the man who'd led then this far, but she longed to be a part of the inner circle. She didn't want the authority, so much as she wanted the responsibility. So many people joined the Red Lotus because of her, and she wanted to honor that.

"In time, kid, in time," Ghazan said, "why don't you wake up your brother and Hiro and get some food in ya? Zaheer should be done by then."

Yangchen awoke and rose with little complaint, but Korra found she had some difficulty with Hiro. She tried gently shaking, then yelling, but the young man remained immune to any casual and polite effort to awaken him.

"Okay, that's enough," Korra said. She bent a large column of rock that snapped Hiro into an upright position, and she caught him by the collar of his sleeping bag.

"Get up now, or I tell your mother you insulted water bending!" Korra snapped.

Hiro's eyes went as wide as the moon, "I'm up, I'm up!"

"We should start with that," Yangchen said.

"We do, and eventually he stops being scared of Ming-Hua," Korra said, "and then she'll remind us of why we should be scared of her."

"What Korra said," Hiro smiled, "I love my mom, but spirits…"

Yangchen and Korra nodded silently.

"Alright, lets get some food, I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Korra said, with a roll of her eyes, "and yet you never have. You ought to consider yourself lucky, Hiro."

"Yes, high and mighty Avatar," Hiro sighed, "so is there food?"

oooOOoo

_Later_

After breakfast, the three young benders sparred, deep in the woods behind the farm.

P'Li found them, just as Korra and Yangchen were finishing their match.

"Say it, say it!"

Yangchen was splayed on the ground, with Korra resting both her knees on his back. She had twisted one arm behind Yangchen's back, while his other arm tried helplessly to topple her weight.

"Never!" Yangchen spat.

"Oh?" Korra twisted his arm a little tighter. Not hard enough to cause too much pain, but it was still far from comfortable, "just say I'm the greatest Avatar ever, and I'll let you go."

"I will never say that!"

P'Li cleared her throat, and the three young benders turned their head to her.

"Korra, stop picking on your little brother," P'Li said. She looked to her son and smiled, "and Yangchen, stop getting beaten up."

"But he does it so well," Korra said, as she stood up.

"Just lucky you're the Avatar, is all…"

"Zaheer wants to see you, Korra," P'Li said.

Both Korra and Yangchen stood up a little straighter. Korra made her way back first, but when Yangchen motioned to follow her, she caught a look from his mother that was unmistakable.

"Come on, Hiro," Yangchen said, dejected, "I may not be able to beat an Avatar, but I can take a rock eater any day."

"…I don't like keeping secrets," Korra said, "not from family, not from anyone. What we do isn't wrong, and we shouldn't have to hide it, at least not from fellow Red Lotus members."

"The Red Lotus isn't as powerful as the forces that are against us," P'Li said, "we can't afford mistakes. The fewer that than can reveal our plans, the better."

The two found Zaheer meditating in a meadow.

"Korra, thank you for joining us," Zaheer said, "we need to discuss our next statement."

"Sifu," Korra bowed politely, and then sat in front of her mentor lotus style.

"P'Li, a moment alone?"

"Of course."

oooOOoo

"I know she's the Avatar, but does she always have to rub it in my face?" Yangchen growled. With an act of will, he sent lighting frm his fingers, and destroyed two earth 'Fire Soldiers', created by Hiro.

"Rub your nose in it how?" Hiro chuckled. He was content to help Yangchen train, rather than spar with the Fire bender himself, "when did Korra ever say she was better than us because she's the Avatar?"

"…never," Yangchen sighed. Hiro sent two rocks flying at the Fire bender, and he dodged them effortlessly.

"It's just that she's…"

"Important…" Yangchen finished. He stopped, and cast his eyes to the ground, "do...do you think he's disappointed in me? For not being able to open my third eye?"

"He is not."

The two young benders turned their head, and were shocked how P'Li had effortly snuck up on them.

"Umm, I think I hear Dad calling me," Hiro said. He knew when a private moment was approaching when he saw it, "later!"

"Your father knows how dedicated you are to your family," P'Li said, "your ability as a bender has nothing to do it. Zaheer founded and led the Red Lotus as a non bender."

"…I know, I'm sorry," Yangchen said.

"Now is not the time for doubt," P'Li said, "what we have planned next could be our biggest action to date?"

"Are we destroying the Dai Li training grounds?" Yangchen felt a surge of conviction flow through him, "finally taking the fight to the Fire Nation? Deposing the dynasty of the Water Tribes?"

oooOOoo

"It's about Zaofu, isn't it?" Korra said, as P'Li left.

"It is and it isn't," Zaheer said.

"With Ganbat, it's always about Zaofu," Korra spat, "I know Ganbat's been a member of the Red Lotus for a long time, but I fail t see how that entitles him to respect. The man's put a bounty out of the children of Avatar Aang's family, and attacked Zaofu twice now, until he was scared away. We don't need a man as violent as him in our ranks!"

"I agree," Zaheer said, "but not all of the Red Lotus see it the way."

"He's a criminal," Korra hissed.

"And were we to treat him as such, his many supporters would turn on us, losing us their strength while increasing that of our enemy's," Zaheer replied, "we are not some unquestionable authority, Korra. We are a rising tide of history, natural order, and whether we like it or not Ganbat is part of that."

"…I understand," Korra said, making it clear she didn't agree.

"Something important has come to our attention," Zaheer said, "the United Republic intends to transport a massive amount of equipment to Zaofu. Ganbat thinks…"

"…that's be a first," Korra muttered.

"…that it would be a mistake to allow it to reach its destination," Zaheer ignored Korra's comment, "that's why you, Hiro, Yangchen and P'Li are going to help Ganbat's division intercept and destroy it. Zaofu will remain untouched, you have my word."

"What's the equipment for?" Korra said.

"That's not important," Zaheer said, "all you need to know is that it's a weapon for the United Republic and the Fire Nation to spread their influence over the earth kingdom, and that must not be allowed to happen."

"But how?" Korra insisted, "you've always said, acting in ignorance is acting in error."

"Korra, I was proud of the work you've done for us, all these years…"

Korra sat up a little straighter.

"…but I need you to trust me."

"…yes, Sifu."

"You've done more for our cause than you will ever know, Korra," Zaheer said, "and I trust that, in time, you'll be the leader the Red Lotus needs to guide it into the future. But for now, you need to believe in me, believe in us."

"I do, Sifu, I do," Korra said, "when do we leave?"

"Soon," Zaheer replied.

"…could we practice some air bending forms, then?"

"I don't feel that would be wise at this time," Zaheer said.

"But Sifu! How will I ever air bend with practice!" Korra said, "you learned to air bend before I did!"

"The more you push against the block on your bending, the stronger I feel it will become," Zaheer said, "and that allows doubt to creep in. A wise man once said, 'Do I contradict myself? I am wide, and contain multitudes'. I believe that the harder you struggle to overcome your block, the weaker it will make you. I feel we should step away from this path, for a time."

Korra's shoulders slumped, "Yes, Sifu."

"Thank you, Korra," Zaheer said, "in the fullness of time, you will be the greatest Avatar…if you allow me to help you reach your full potential."

"Of course, Sifu."

"…and to do that, I just need your complete trust."

"Sifu," Korra said, "you've always had that."

End Chapter.


	13. Act 2 Part 7

Chaos Theory 12

Lin Beifong awoke as the sun began its appearance on the horizon. She glanced at the twin bed next to hers, and was actually relieved to find it empty. She had a suspicion where she might find the occupant.

Lin bathed and dressed on auto-pilot, and didn't really consider herself fully awake until she caught a whiff of the brewing coffee as she entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Lin," Pema handed Lin a cup of coffee, and for a moment Lin thought of the younger woman as a saint.

But only for a moment. There were limits to even the power of coffee.

Lin glanced around quickly. Most of the family was here, Bumi, Meelo and Ikki still fighting off early morning exhaustion, while Pema and Jinora finished setting the table.

"Have you seen Gemma?" Lin asked.

"She's meditating with Dad," Jinora said, "should I go get her?"

"No," Lin barely kept herself from snapping. The absolute last thing she wanted right now was to take Gemma away from Tenzin, "we can make them a plate later."

"I'll do it now," Jinora said, "I'm sorry, Aunt Lin, but I can't stay. I'm leading the early morning meditations, I'm just helping mom with breakfast since _someone_ was up all night, goofing off!"

"Playing with lemurs isn't goofing off," Bumi defended.

"Thank you, Jinora," Lin said, "and congratulations. I know leading the meditations is a big responsibility."

"Such a suck up…" Meelo muttered, still barely awake.

"It is!" Jinora said, completely ignoring her brother, "I think I might even get my tattoos soon!"

Jinora rushed off, before Lin could give into the temptation of telling her how her eagerness was so very much like her father's, when he was first asked by Aang to lead the temple in meditation.

Breakfast was a relatively quick and quiet affair. In part because half the table was still barely awake, and in part because Pema only gave Lin one cup of coffee.

When it was done, Lin immediately went looking for Gemma. She found the younger Beifong meditating just outside the main house, right next to Tenzin.

Watching the two of them, sitting side by side, Lin's thoughts drifted back to when Tenzin first met Gemma.

"_Good evening, Lin, you're looking radiant as always."_

"_Tenzin," Lin looked up from her report, and gave her ex-lover a look that could melt steel, and then returned to her report, "why are you here?"_

"_I'm just here to see an old friend," Tenzin smiled._

"_More like to see the sideshow," Lin muttered under her breath. She swept her hand towards a couch in the corner, where young Gemma was sprawled out underneath a coat, napping, "yes, Lin Beifong has a kid with her. And no, don't ask why because I won't tell you."_

"_I won't ask," Tenzin pulled up a chair and sat, "because I already know. Despite everything that's happened between us, I still think of you as family. And just because we've not talked lately, doesn't mean your family doesn't talk to mine."_

_Lin raised an eyebrow._

"_Then why are you here?" Lin said, "shouldn't you be at home? I heard your child bride was expecting. Congratulations."_

"_Pema is pregnant, but neither helpless nor a child," Tenzin said, "I just wanted to know if you needed any help, and to ask why you haven't addressed any of the rumors circulating regarding Gemma."_

"_What rumors?" Lin said dryly._

"_The rumors that start when an up and coming police officer suddenly disappears for two weeks, and then returns with a young child," Tenzin said, "I've not said anything because it's not my place…"_

"_No, it isn't."_

"…_but I wanted to know why you won't lay the rumors to rest."_

"_Because I'm not about to let what chased Gemma from her home, follow her here," Lin said, "it's her business to share, not mine."_

_Lin glared at Tenzin._

"_Or yours. It's no one's business except hers, frankly."_

"_I agree," Tenzin said, "I was just…curious, I suppose. I apologize for prying."_

"_I don't suppose you heard any juicy rumors, though?" Lin said with a knowing smile. There was always something enjoyable about watching Tenzin squirm. _

_Tenzin adjusted his collar, "No, none at all."_

"_Oh really? Then why did we have a Councilman with a black eye come in here earlier today, shouting about some insane airbender?" Lin smirked, "he turned pale when I came to take his report and just left."_

"_He thoughtlessly shared a rumor that was… unworthy of you," Tenzin said, "and I feel simply terrible about it."_

"_Mmmhmm," Lin said, with a smirk._

"_No, I'm being completely sincere," Tenzin said, "my hand will probably ache for days."_

"_Well, thank you for defending my honor, airhead," Lin said, "even if you were a wimp."_

"_I prefer to think of myself as a man of peace," Tenzin defended, "I know this is sudden, but would you and Gemma care to join Pema and I for dinner tonight? I'm certain Pema wouldn't mind."_

_Tenzin saw Lin's expression._

"…_well, I'm certain I could persuade her," Tenzin said._

"_Another time, airhead," Lin said, "I need to get caught up on my paperwork while I was gone."_

"_I don't mean to criticize, but it is rather late Lin," Tenzin said, "can't that wait?"_

"_Not if we want these arrests to stick," Lin said, "and I'm talking about murder and assault, not petty vandalism. So yes, we want them to stick."_

"_When do you expect to be done?" Tenzin said._

"_When I'm done!" Lin hissed. She shot a glance towards the clock, and saw that Tenzin wasn't exaggerating when he said it was late. The two Beifongs hadn't had dinner yet, and while Lin knew that Gemma hadn't yet complained, she also knew that, in a new city surrounded by complete strangers, she wouldn't complain about anything short of a bloody wound._

_And maybe not even then._

"_Lin, please, I know things ended badly between us, but I still think of you as family," Tenzin said, "and families have traditions. Traditions like overworked Beifongs dumping younger Beifongs off on airheads."_

_Despite herself, Lin put her head in her hand and chuckled._

_Tenzin wisely flinched. He knew that laugh._

"…_Lin?"_

"_I'm laughing to keep from strangling you," Lin sighed. It galled her to admit, but Tenzin was right. She had no idea how much longer she'd be here, these reports simply had to get done and Gemma spending the night in the precinct wasn't an option. And while Lin had no shortage of other friends she could ask to watch her, none of them were here, now._

_More than that, there were few people Lin trusted more than Tenzin, romantic history aside. She knew his heart like she knew the back of her hand, "Alright, Tenzin. But I want her home by noon tomorrow, at the latest. I still haven't gotten her settled in, and I need to start her metal bending training."_

"_You mean earth bending?"_

"…_right," Lin said._

"_You have my word," Tenzin said._

_Lin stood up, and went to Gemma. She gently shook the young girl awake._

_Gemma's eyes blinked open, and she sat up without a word. _

_Lin knelt down until she was at eye level with the young girl. An easy, gentle expression came over her face, one Tenzin recognized from having dealt with countless children in the line of service._

"_Is it dinner time?" Gemma said hopefully. Tenzin observed the headband that rested on Gemma's forehead, but said nothing. He knew of the wound it concealed._

"_Not for me," Lin said, "I'm so sorry, honey, but I've still got work to do. But I've asked your uncle Tenzin here to take you to dinner, and watch you for tonight."_

"_Why?" Gemma said, her voice anxious, "I didn't do something wrong, did I?"_

"_Of course not, sweetie," Lin stroked Gemma's cheek gently, "it's just that I'm very busy right now. But to make it up to you, Uncle Airhead here is going to take you to the best steak house in Republic City."_

_Tenzin winced, especially when he saw Gemma's eyes light up._

"_Really?"_

"_Of course!" Lin stood up, and went back to her desk. As she passed Tenzin, she slipped several bills into his hand, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay honey? I promise. Do you remember what to do before you go to bed?"_

"_Put lotion on my head and ankle," Gemma said, "make the scars less angry."_

"_That's right," Lin said, "now behave for Tenzin, okay?"_

"_Okay," Gemma got to her feet, and carefully approached Tenzin. The airbender observed how Gemma seemed to drag her right heel, but said nothing. _

"_Hello Gemma," Tenzin extended his hand politely, "it's an honor to meet you."_

_Gemma took his hand, all the while staring at his head._

"_Why is your head blue?" Gemma said, "and bald? Are you old?"_

_Tenzin heard Lin give a snort of laughter._

"_I'm an air nomad," Tenzin said, matter of factly, "and the tattoos are to signify I'm an air bending master."_

"_There's no such thing as air…"_

_Tenzin saw the statement coming, and flicked his wrist. A small tornado formed in the palm of his hand._

"…_bending…?"_

_Gemma stared at the display with awestruck fascination. Lin swore she could actually see Gemma sway from side to side. Lin shook her head, and stifled a laugh. She'd grown up around air bending her entire life, and was just a fact of life for her, no different from any other form of bending._

_But to Gemma, it must have seemed like a form of magic, a myth made real before her very eyes._

"_Gemma," Lin said sternly, "it's not polite to ask about someone's bending."_

"_Oh!" Gemma snapped out of her stupor, and then saluted, "yes, ma'am!" _

"_Lin!" Tenzin looked towards his former lover, horrified, "you make her call you…"_

"_She thinks it's funny, airhead," Lin interrupted. Tenzin glanced at the young Beifong, and saw her giggling._

"_Well, anyways, I can do much more than that," Tenzin said, but before he moved an inch, he had a cable wrapped around his wrist._

"_Scatter my papers, and I'll scatter you," Lin warned, "at least wait until you're in the hall before you create an air scooter."_

"_Sorry, of course," Tenzin stepped towards Lin's desk, and placed the money Lin had given him on top of her report, "we'll leave you to your work, and see you tomorrow."_

"_Thank you," Lin said, "oh, and Tenz?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Turn her into a vegetarian, and they will never find your body."_

"_Oh Lin," Tenzin chuckled, "you'd never do that. You know you'd be the first suspect."_

"_Oh Tenzin," Lin's smile was like that of a dozen predators in one, "it's so sweet of you to think I don't already have a spot picked out."_

_Tenzin left with a smile, and a few seconds after he and Gemma stepped into the hall, Lin heard Gemma squealing in delight, her arms wrapped around Tenzin's shoulder as the two of them rode an air scooter out the door._

_The sheer joy on Gemma's face the next day was even enough to make Lin forgive Tenzin for returning her in Air Nomad clothes._

"Excuse me airheads," Lin said, "I'm looking for an earth bender. Have you seen one around here?"

Gemma's head barely twitched, but Lin still sensed a rock the size of her fist that was sent flying at her head. She caught it without looking, but didn't notice the second rock directly behind it. The second smashed into the first, and the reverberations swept through Lin's hand, stinging her.

"Oh, so there is an earth bender here," Lin refused to acknowledge it, though, and simply tossed the rock over her shoulder dismissively.

"Good morning Lin," Tenzin said, as he stood.

"Chief," Gemma said, politely.

"We need to leave soon," Lin said, "go get some breakfast, and then get ready, kiddo."

"Yes, ma'am."

Tenzin and Lin watched as Gemma walked away. Lin paid special attention to Gemma's right ankle, looking to where she knew there to be a burn scar. Like the scar on her forehead, it was virtually invisible after all these years, though, Lin reflected, it was still felt in so many ways.

"I miss it when she said that to tease you," Tenzin said.

"You're not the only one, airhead," Lin said, "still, thanks for meditating with her. It means a lot to her."

"I felt that I had to," Tenzin sighed, "Lin…about Gemma…?"

"What about her?"

"You may not know this, but there are quite a few air acolytes who were once soldiers," Tenzin said, "many with scars on their spirit, and it took me a while to realize how deep. You see, a person is fluid, and solid at the same time, and…"

"Get to the point," Lin pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Right," Tenzin said, "Gemma was happy last night, she is happy this morning, but her time as a soldier will always weigh her down so long as she sees it in her future, or until she finds a way to bear it better. The wounds she carries inside are deep, and will always pull her back to a dark place until we find a way to heal them."

Lin chuckled. Tenzin scowled.

"I'm being serious, Lin. I don't understand why you're laughing."

"I'm laughing because it's not funny," Lin sighed, "gallow's humor, it's a cop's first line of defense. You, of all people, telling me someone will return to feeling miserable even when they're smiling."

"Hmm," Tenzin said.

For a moment, the two lovers stood in silence.

"Well, I'll still take what I can get," Lin said, "thank you."

"Say hello to your sister for me, when you see her," Tenzin said.

"I will," Lin said, "Tenzin, about the airbenders…"

"I trust Bumi…"

"It's not that," Lin said, "it's just…, I need you to know. Even if we'd known, back then, it wouldn't have changed anything for me."

"…I know. It wouldn't have changed anything for me, either." Tenzin said. He gave Lin a chaste hug, "be safe."

oooOOoo

The ride back to the dock was uneventful, but when Lin was securing the boat, she caught Gemma staring at the bay, her entire body language crestfallen.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lin said. It hardly took a genius to know what was weighing on Gemma's spirit.

Gemma tore her eyes away from the bay, and shook her head. She swallowed before answering.

"No, no I'm fine," Gemma said, sounding anything but.

"I know what it's like, to lose friends in the line of duty," Lin placed a hand on Gemma's shoulder, "any time you want to talk, we can."

"We should hurry," Gemma said, "we don't want to be late."

Lin nodded, even though she recognized it as Gemma's patented way of avoiding conversation, by invoking duty. The drive to the precinct was silent after that

"Stand by for tactical response?" Gemma asked, as they pulled into the motor-pool.

"Correct," Lin said. She supposed she should feel guilty. Sending Gemma to Tactical Response was like loading a crossbow and then setting it aside on the off chance of a home invader later. But Lin didn't want Gemma out on the streets if it could be avoided, and the few times that she actually needed the tactical response team, Gemma was nothing short of a miracle worker.

Plus, Lin reasoned, who understood 'hurry up and wait' better than a soldier?

As workdays went, Lin's day started fairly ordinary. She met with Council members, officially accepted the escort assignment, (though it was a bitter pill to take, even if it meant seeing her family), made a discreet call to an old friend, and was meeting with a detective, when the day went from ordinary to complete and utter disaster.

"Zaofu? When the hell were you going to tell me about this?" Gemma spat as she barged into Chief Beifong's office, unannounced. Lin was in the middle of a briefing with her lead Detective, and they both gave Gemma an incredulous look.

"…Rako, please excuse us," Lin said, finally.

"Yes ma'am," the Detective moved like the wind to get out of the office, and closed the door behind him.

"Zaofu? Are you serious?" Gemma spat, "how can you think of making me go there like this?!"

"Soldier," Lin couldn't keep herself from growling, "you're being insubordinate."

The statement was like a slap in the face to Gemma, and all at once, she'd realized what she'd done. Storming into the Chief's office, yelling at her with no regard for rank, even worse in front of others, officers had been fired for less and if Gemma knew that if she only walked away with a reprimand, it would be a blessing.

"What did I tell you about this assignment?" Lin demanded.

"That we are not family of blood, but family of law," Gemma said, "and…and that I was always to treat you as the Chief."

"I'm glad you finally remembered that," Lin walked behind her desk, and sat down, "now sit."

Gemma sat.

"I didn't tell you about Zaofu because some of the details are still being finalized," Lin said, "you'll likely be attached to a metal bender unit, which is I assume how you found out?"

Gemma nodded.

"We're going to provide an escort for some equipment," Lin said, "the biggest threat I anticipate is boredom. No major fighting expected."

"I don't want to go back there," Gemma hissed, "not like this…!"

"Like what?"

"Like…this!" Gemma said, "do you know what they call me? The 'Butcher Beifong!'"

"Well, that's better than I ever got," Lin said, "most creative I ever heard was 'Bastard Beifong'."

"You think this is a joke? This isn't funny!" Gemma growled.

Lin winced inwardly. Gemma used to get gallows humor, at least when she started.

"You're ashamed of me!" Gemma said, "how do you think they'll react? Opal? Wing? Everything I do flies in the face of the work they do there!"

"No matter how many times you say that, it won't make it true," Lin said.

"But…"

"Soldiers make the peace, cops keep it," Lin said, "you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."

"And when they ask…"

"And when they ask what you've done," Lin interrupted, "you tell them that you helped stabilize Omashu. That when the Red Monsoon took hostages on the dock, you and the team your took them out with zero civilian causalities. You tell them that every time your unit fought members of the Red Lotus, you won. That you've protected Republic City and everyone in it, without fail."

Lin paused, then smiled.

"But you are never to tell them how you secured that landing zone on your first mission."

"…yes, Chief."

"Now go home, get some rest and get your head straightened out," Lin said.

"…I can still do my duty," Gemma said.

"No you can't," Lin said, "because you're suspended for conduct unbecoming. I'll see you at home, and we'll discuss this further."

"…yes, ma'am."

Gemma remained stoic as she left Lin's office, and the precinct house. It wasn't until she was three blocks away, that she allowed herself to cry.

To her, it seemed as if everything in the world had gone wrong overnight.

She'd just undermined the authority of the woman who raised her, on top of holding Lin's career back for so long. She was assigned to a mission that would take her to Zaofu, where she had little doubt everyone in her family regarded her as a rabid animal. And finally, Gemma knew what she had to do next threatened to do even greater damage to her family.

oooOOoo

"I call 'em hotshots," Kim Jung held his hand out, and in it were several green pills, "don't matter what your bending is. Take these? Fire benders can do blue easy. Water bender? Blood bending is only the start! Earth bender? Well, you could pull the moon from the sky!"

His customer looked at the pill with trepidation. The younger man was a first time customer, and Kim thought he needed the hard sell.

"What if you're not a bender?"

"Man, it'll make you feel like one!" Kim said. He was about to add how it could enhance his sexual potency, when he saw his customer's eyes bug out, and the young man took off in a dead run.

Before Kim could turn around, a metal cable wrapped around his throat.

"Turn around, and I pop your head like a cork," Gemma warned. She wore a black mask over her face, while they were deep in Republic City's alleys, she took no chances. Hers was too famous a dynasty.

"Hey, we coo', we coo'," Kim raised his hands.

"Hotshots, where's your stash?" Gemma demanded.

"All I got is what's in my pocket," Kim said.

"Bullshit," Gemma growled, and tightened the cord around Kim's neck, "you're stalling. Too bad I already dealt with your spotters. Now…"

Gemma tightened the cable again. Kim struggled to breathe, before Gemma allowed some slack on the table.

"…I know dealers like you keep a stash nearby," Gemma said, "so you can claim innocence if you're caught dealing. Tell me where it is, unless you'd care to find out how easily I could make this cable flat."

"…third trashcan," Kim said, "blue plastic bag."

Gemma went to the trashcan, and found the bag almost instantly. She reached inside and removed a smaller bag of 'Hotshots', and then tossed the remainder of other assorted drugs at Kim's feet.

"Consider yourself lucky this is all I took," Gemma warned.

"Yeah, the Triple Threat will really believe that a cop held me up," Kim said.

"All they care about is money. Consider this a tax," Gemma said. She willed the cable off of Kim's throat, "now walk away, and don't you dare turn around."

Gemma watched him leave with her seismic sense, and once he was at the other end of the street, Gemma removed her mask and walked in the opposite direction. As she approached the mouth of the alley, she removed her mask, making certain she wasn't seen, and hid it and her stolen drugs in her purse.

Still concerned about her own safety and secrecy, Gemma hadn't thought to terminate her seismic sense as she stepped out into the street.

The rush of information hit her brain like a tsunami. The roar of the street felt like an invasion, and she instantly became of the vendor who was also a fire bender, the shopper across the street who was also a water bender and the little boy down the street who was a neophyte earth bender.

If they were benders or not, Gemma didn't know, but her head, heart and fears all told her it was the truth. She felt as if she was completely surrounded, caged, trapped on battlefield that had just been suddenly dropped atop her from on high.

The desire to run or fight surged through her brain, while at the same time Gemma knew it was all wrong. She knew she wasn't on a battle field. She knew she wasn't in any danger, hell she'd been shopping on this street a week before. She knew, at least intellectually, she was safe in her home city.

But her every instinct, instinct forged in dozens of bloody battles, told her otherwise, and with each second it seemed to grow worse. The pounding of her heart grew louder, her breath grew shorter, and Gemma staggered to the wall of the alley as she her head began to swim.

Gemma fought to stand, to find the strength to simply hail a cab to bring her home. She reminded herself that her purse was filled with drugs that would shame her entire family, destroy the Chief's career and make Gemma an even bigger failure than she was now.

Yet Gemma's legs buckled, and she slid to the ground as the tears that she fought to hold back finally came free once again.

Men and women by the dozens, on their way to work, home or simply out for a stroll, never gave Gemma a second glance as she huddled on the ground, as the consequences of years of service to Republic City struck her heart and soul like a knife.

In a city of millions, Gemma Beifong was left to bear the weight and scars for all she'd done for Republic City, all alone in a busy street.

End Chapter.


End file.
